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Think positive: Proposal of a simple method to create reference materials in the frame of microplastics research

MethodsX 2023 16 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Alexandre Dehaut, Charlotte Himber, Mathilde Colin, Guillaume Duflos

Summary

Researchers proposed a simple method to create reference materials for microplastic studies using transparent sealed capsules containing a controlled number of particles, supporting harmonization of detection methodologies and ring trial comparisons. The approach is low-cost and accessible to laboratories without specialized equipment.

In the context of the harmonization of methodologies employed to isolate and count microplastics in samples or to organize ring trials tests, the use of reference materials, i.e. samples with controlled amount of particles is required. The method proposed here uses transparent, sealed capsules containing in-house generated microplastics as a convenient way to generate microplastic reference materials. This method is a simple approach for adding particles to samples without risk of loss during particle extraction or transporting/handling.•Low-cost and easy-to-use preparation of heterogeneous mix of microplastic reference particles•Possibility to control microplastic size, shape, and polymeric composition•Applicable to many protocols and wide range of applications on water, sediments and biota.

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