Interlaboratory Comparison Reveals State of the Art in Microplastic Detection and Quantification Methods
ILC
In this study, we investigate the current accuracy of widely used microplastic (MP) detection methods through an interlaboratory comparison (ILC) involving ISO-approved techniques. The ILC was organized under the prestandardization platform of VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards) and gathered a large number (84) of analytical laboratories across the globe. The aim of this ILC was (i) to test and to compare two thermo-analytical and three spectroscopical methods with respect to their suitability to identify and quantify microplastics in a water-soluble matrix and (ii) to test the suitability of the microplastic test materials to be used in ILCs. Two reference materials (RMs), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene (PE) as powders with rough size ranges between 10 and 200 μm, were used to press tablets for the ILC. The following parameters had to be assessed: polymer identity, mass fraction, particle number concentration, and particle size distribution. The reproducibility, SR, in thermo-analytical experiments ranged from 62%–117% (for PE) and 45.9%–62% (for PET). In spectroscopical experiments, the SR varied between 121% and 129% (for PE) and 64% and 70% (for PET). Tablet dissolution turned out to be a very challenging step and should be optimized. Based on the knowledge gained, development of guidance for improved tablet filtration is in progress. Further, in this study, we discuss the main sources of uncertainties that need to be considered and minimized for preparation of standardized protocols for future measurements with higher accuracy.
CIORNII Dmitri;
HODOROABA Vasile-Dan;
BENISMAIL Nizar;
MALTSEVA Alina;
FERRER Juan F.;
WANG Jiamin;
PARRA Raquel;
JÉZÉQUEL Ronan;
RECEVEUR Justine;
GABRIEL Dina;
SCHEITLER Andreas;
VAN OVERSTEEG Christa;
ROOSMA Jorg;
VAN RENESSE VAN DUIVENBODE Alex;
BULTERS Tim;
ZANELLA Michela;
PERINI Alessandro;
BENETTI Federico;
MĖHN Dóra;
DIERKES Georg;
SOLL Michael;
ISHIMURA Takahisa;
BEDNARZ Marius;
PENG Guyu;
HILDEBRANDT Lars;
PETERS Matthias;
KIM Seung-Kyu;
TÜRK Jochen;
STEINFELD Felix;
JUNG Jaehak;
HONG Sanghee;
KIM Eun-Ju;
YU Hye-Weon;
KLOCKMANN Sven;
KRAFFT Christoph;
SÜSSMANN Julia;
ZOU Shan;
TER HALLE Alexandra;
GIOVANNOZZI Andrea M.;
SACCO Alessio;
FADDA Marta;
PUTZU Mara;
IM Dong-Hoon;
NHIAPO Nontete;
CARRILLO-BARRAGÁN Priscilla;
SCHMIDT Natascha;
HERZKE Dorte;
GOMIERO Alessio;
JAÉN-GIL Adrián;
CABANES Damien J. E.;
DOEDT Martin;
CARDOSO Vitor;
SCHMITZ Antja;
HAWLY Moritz;
MO Huajuan;
JACQUIN Justine;
MECHLINSKI Andy;
ADEDIRAN Gbotemi A.;
ANDRADE Jose;
MUNIATEGUI-LORENZO Soledad;
RAMSPERGER Anja;
LÖDER Martin G. J.;
LAFORSCH Christian;
CIRKOVIC VELICKOVIC Tanja;
FABBRI Daniele;
CORALLI Irene;
FEDERICI Stefania;
SCHOLZ-BÖTTCHER Barbara M.;
LA NASA Jacopo;
BIALE Greta;
RAUERT Cassandra;
OKOFFO Elvis D.;
UNDAS Anna;
AN Lihui;
WACHTENDORF Volker;
FENGLER Petra;
ALTMANN Korinna;
2025-05-21
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
JRC142278
1520-6882 (online),
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c05403,
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c05403,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC142278,
10.1021/acs.analchem.4c05403 (online),
Additional supporting files
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