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Article ? AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button. Tier 2 ? Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence. Marine & Wildlife Sign in to save

Searching and identifying microplastics in marine environment by digital holography⋆

The European Physical Journal Plus 2018 47 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Francesco Merola, Pasquale Memmolo, Vittorio Bianco, Melania Paturzo, M.G. Mazzocchi, Pietro Ferraro

Summary

Researchers demonstrated that digital holography can non-invasively detect and reconstruct the three-dimensional shapes of different microplastic types in water, including in the presence of biological matter such as diatoms, offering a promising new optical tool for environmental monitoring.

Microplastics (MP) have gained enormous attention in the last years as they are among the major contaminants of soil and oceans, able to insert themselves in the food chain and cause severe damage to plants life, fauna and human health. Many techniques have been proposed to analyze the abundance, concentration and presence of such material in water, but data are still incomplete. Here, we propose digital holography (DH) as a non-invasive technique to search for and reconstruct the shape of different types of MP. We prove DH is a suitable tool for identifying MP also in the presence of other objects in water, such as diatoms.

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