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Contamination issues as a challenge in quality control and quality assurance in microplastics analytics

Journal of Hazardous Materials 2020 292 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 55 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Joana C. Prata, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Armando C. Duarte, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos João Pinto da Costa, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, Armando C. Duarte, Joana C. Prata, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Vanessa Reis, Vanessa Reis, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Vanessa Reis, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Vanessa Reis, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Joana C. Prata, Catherine Mouneyrac, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, João Pinto da Costa, Catherine Mouneyrac, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Armando C. Duarte, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Joana C. Prata, Joana C. Prata, Vanessa Reis, Vanessa Reis, Teresa Rocha‐Santos João Pinto da Costa, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Catherine Mouneyrac, Teresa Rocha‐Santos João Pinto da Costa, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Catherine Mouneyrac, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Catherine Mouneyrac, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Vanessa Reis, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, Armando C. Duarte, João Pinto da Costa, Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos João Pinto da Costa, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Armando C. Duarte, Teresa Rocha‐Santos Teresa Rocha‐Santos Catherine Mouneyrac, Armando C. Duarte, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Catherine Mouneyrac, Teresa Rocha‐Santos

Summary

This review evaluated contamination control practices in 50 microplastic research studies and found that most only followed about 4 out of 10 recommended quality control measures. Since microplastics are present everywhere including indoor air, inadequate precautions can lead to sample contamination and overestimation of environmental concentrations. The study proposes seven specific measures to improve result quality and reliability in future microplastic sampling and analysis.

Study Type Environmental

Microplastics are widely distributed environmental contaminants. To understand their impacts on the environment and health, more high-quality results are needed. Since microplastics are present in every environment, including indoor air, proper precautions must be adopted in order to prevent contamination of samples and overestimation of environmental concentrations. Thus, to guarantee a proper quality of results, researchers must adopt strict contamination control measures. This review was conducted to understand current contamination control practices. A total of 50 studies published in 2019 were reviewed, including sampling of biota, air, soil, sediment, freshwater and saltwater, regarding 10 contamination control parameters. Overall, studies usually only comply with 4 out of 10 of these measures, which include avoiding the use of plastic materials, covering samples with glass lids or aluminum foil, filtering solutions, or running procedural blanks. The importance of these measures is also exemplified with real observation of contamination. Finally, seven measures to control for contamination are suggested in order to improve the quality of results in microplastic sampling in future assessments.

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