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Reevaluation of microplastics identification based on Neuston net survey data
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This study re-examined microplastic identification methods, finding that optical counting without chemical treatment and spectroscopy (FTIR) leads to overestimates, particularly for foam particles. Accurate identification methods are essential for producing reliable data on microplastic contamination levels.
To verify data accuracy regarding microplastics (MPs), the effects of chemical preprocessing and optical identification with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were examined using survey data. We aimed to clarify the cause of overestimation of the number concentration of MPs without FTIR by focusing on shape types. The proportion of fragments (foam) decreased (increased) after FTIR analysis. Although significant difference was found in terms of the size distribution of fragments (after FTIR > before FTIR), no such difference was found with regard to foam. These findings indicate that impurities categorized as fragments via visual confirmation, especially those measuring <1000 μm, were removed using the FTIR technique. Although previous studies recommended the use of data on MPs measuring >1000 μm, this threshold should be applied only to fragments and not to foam.
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