An interlaboratory comparison exercise for the determination of microplastics in standard sample bottles

Is It or Isn't It: The Importance of Visual Classification in Microplastic Characterization

“…Films are fragmented materials in which two dimensions are significantly greater than the third, where the latter may be just a few micrometers. Films are often described as being more flexible than fragments and may be folded or creased while remaining somewhat resistant to breakage; 33 however, certainly, polymer-based paints may be relatively brittle. Foams are fragments from materials to which a blowing agent is introduced during the setting process, and includes expanded polystyrene (EPS), expanded polyvinyl chloride (EPVC, or Foamex), and similar.…”

“…Feret's diameter has been suggested as the most appropriate measurement, as it refers to the length of the shortest line joining two points of an object outline. 33,34 What is clear is that researchers should report particles sizes more explicitly than simply less than or more than 5 mm. Increasing the number of size categories, if sizes must be grouped, allows for interpretation on a much wider scale than when reported in few bins 35 .…”

Efficient Prediction of Microplastic Counts from Mass Measurements

“…The total error associated with microplastic count prediction by KRR remains comparable to or lower than that of manual counting, even for the more heterogenous samples. Isobe et al 20 used articial samples to estimate the relative uncertainty of microplastic counts performed by humans. In their study, samples with n 0 ≈ 90 fragments less than 2 mm were sent to 12 dierent laboratories.…”

Critical Review of Processing and Classification Techniques for Images and Spectra in Microplastic Research

“…77 Standardization and inter-laboratory comparisons for microplastic visual classification techniques are ongoing. 78 While these methods are currently developing, we describe the reference libraries, morphology, color, and fluorescence intensity considerations that researchers use to identify microplastics from environmental samples. Using multiple techniques and settings (e.g., lighting and background magnification) and incorporating several lines of evidence will aid in the accuracy of visual microplastic classification.…”