Analysis of microplastics

This expert session will discuss key considerations for sampling, extracting, and analyzing microplastics in environmental samples. Special attention will be given to QA/QC requirements, common pitfalls, and sources of uncertainty throughout the analytical workflow. We will explore why microplastics require somewhat different approaches compared with conventional chemical pollutants, and which particle characteristics should be reported to ensure that data can be meaningfully used, for example, in models and risk assessments. Practical examples will illustrate how recent guidelines (ISO 24187:2023) can be implemented in routine workflows to support robust and transparent microplastic data.

Speaker: Svenja Mintenig, WUR

A second presentation will be given by Mike Wenzel. His abstract will follow shortly.