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Challenges and Advances in Analytical Techniques to Detect Micro- and Nanoplastics
Summary
This research review summarizes the current methods scientists use to detect and study microplastics and nanoplastics - tiny plastic particles that can get into our environment, food, and bodies. The authors explain that identifying these extremely small plastic pieces is very challenging and requires advanced laboratory techniques to understand what types of plastics they are and how much is present. Better detection methods are important because we need to understand how much plastic pollution we're exposed to and its potential effects on human health.
A comprehensive analysis of microplastics and nanoplastics requires determining their chemical composition and evaluating their physical properties, including mass, particle number, size, and morphology. Due to the diversity and complexity of micro- and nanoplastics, advanced analytical techniques are needed to detect, identify, quantify, and characterize these challenging analytes. This chapter will address already established mass-based (thermolytic) and particle-based (spectroscopic) techniques, including their strengths, limitations/challenges, and complementarity. Furthermore, we will focus on emerging coupled and innovative/breakthrough techniques for analyzing micro- and nanoplastics from environmental matrices.