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Plastics in biota: technological readiness level of current methodologies
Summary
Researchers evaluated the scientific readiness of current laboratory methods for detecting and measuring plastic particles inside living organisms — from fish to insects — identifying which techniques are reproducible enough to be used in standardized environmental monitoring programs. Harmonizing these methods is critical for generating consistent, comparable data on how plastics accumulate across food webs.
Abstract Plastics are persistent in the environment and may be ingested by organisms where they may cause physical harm or release plastic additives. Monitoring is a crucial mechanism to assess the risk of plastics to the marine and terrestrial ecosystem. Unfortunately, due to unharmonised procedures, it remains difficult to compare the results of different studies. This publication, as part of the Horizon project EUROqCHARM, aims to identify the properties of the available analytical processes and methods for the determination of plastics in biota. Based on a systematic review, reproducible analytical pipelines were examined and the technological readiness levels were assessed so that these methods may eventually (if not already) be incorporated into (harmonised) monitoring programs where biota are identified as indicators of plastic pollution.