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Coverage of microplastic data underreporting and progress toward standardization
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This study synthesizes factors contributing to microplastic data underreporting, revealing that inconsistent extraction and analysis methods across studies lead to considerable underestimation of actual microplastic concentrations in the environment.
The analysis of microplastics in various environmental matrices is becoming more prevalent in almost every region of the world. Microplastics are underreported depending on how they are extracted and analyzed, and their magnitude and impacts are unknown or unstudied. This paper aims to synthesize a concrete assessment of the important factors that underpin microplastics data underreporting. Our analysis revealed that there is considerable evidence to highlight data underreporting on microplastic abundance and characteristics, which stems from a combination of partial evaluation, economic constraints, recovery efficiency of microplastic extraction, filter pore size used for microplastic separation, and the detection limit of the quantification and characterization method. The majority of unreported data fell into the category of significantly smaller-sized microplastic particles (1-300 μm), which are known to be more harmful to the environment and human health. Recommendations toward the improvement of methodologies for improving microplastic data, as well as the critical areas that will drive standardization ahead, are addressed.
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Isolation and extraction methods for microplastics from environmental samples were evaluated and compared, tracing the evolution of methodologies from early studies in the 1970s to current approaches. The review identified persistent inconsistencies in extraction efficiency across methods as a major obstacle to comparing microplastic contamination data across studies and locations.
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This paper reviews and compares the various methods used to collect, process, identify, and quantify microplastics across different environmental samples. It highlights the lack of standardized protocols as a major obstacle to comparing results across studies and calls for methodological harmonization.
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