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Detection Methods
Environmental Sources
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A reliable method to determine airborne microplastics using quantum cascade laser infrared spectrometry
The Science of The Total Environment2023
28 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 45
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Roberto Rosal,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Adrián López-Rosales,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Borja Ferreiro,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
J.M. Andrade,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Borja Ferreiro,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
Borja Ferreiro,
Roberto Rosal,
Borja Ferreiro,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
J.M. Andrade,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Borja Ferreiro,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Borja Ferreiro,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Borja Ferreiro,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Borja Ferreiro,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Borja Ferreiro,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Adrián López-Rosales,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Miguel González-Pleiter,
J.M. Andrade,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
J.M. Andrade,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
J.M. Andrade,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
María Fernández-Amado,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Miguel González-Pleiter,
María Fernández-Amado,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
J.M. Andrade,
Adrián López-Rosales,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Miguel González-Pleiter,
J.M. Andrade,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
J.M. Andrade,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Roberto Rosal,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Purificación López‐Mahía,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Miguel González-Pleiter,
J.M. Andrade,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
J.M. Andrade,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Roberto Rosal,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Roberto Rosal,
Miguel González-Pleiter,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
J.M. Andrade,
Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo
Summary
Researchers developed a faster and more reliable method for measuring airborne microplastics using a quantum cascade laser infrared spectrometer. They tested different passive sampling devices and sample digestion approaches, then optimized the automated instrument to distinguish fibers from particles with over 90% accuracy. Standardizing how airborne microplastics are measured is critical because air is a significant but poorly characterized route of human microplastic exposure.
The number of studies dealing with airborne microplastics (MPs) is increasing but sampling and sample treatment are not standardized, yet. Here, a fast and reliable method to characterize MPs is presented. It involves the study of two passive sampling devices to collect atmospheric bulk deposition (wet and dry deposition) and three digestion methods (two alkaline-oxidative and an oxidative) to treat the samples. The alkaline-oxidative method based on KOH and NaClO was selected for a mild organic matrix digestion. In addition, some operational parameters of a high-throughput quantum cascade laser-based infrared device (LDIR) were optimized: an effective automatic tiered approach to differentiate fibres from particles (>90 % success in validation) and a criterion to establish positive matches when comparing an unknown spectrum against the spectral database (proposed match index > 0.85). The procedural analytical recoveries were very good for particles (82-90 %) and slightly lower for fibres (62-73 %). Finally, the amount and type of MPs deposited at a sub-urban area NW Spain were evaluated. Most common polymers were Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The deposition rates ranged 98-1220 MP/m/day, ca. 1.7 % of the total collected particles. More than 50 % of the total MPs deposited were in the 20-50 μm size range, whereas fibres were mostly in the 50-500 μm size range.