Disparities in Methods Used to Determine Microplastics in the Aquatic Environment: A Review of Legislation, Sampling Process and Instrumental Analysis

Plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, i.e., microplastics, have been detected in a number of environments. The number of studies on microplastics in marine environments, fresh water, wastewater, the atmosphere, and the human body are increasing along with a rise in the amounts of plastic materials in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-07, Vol.18 (14), p.7608
Main Authors: Halfar, Jan, Brožová, Kateřina, Čabanová, Kristina, Heviánková, Silvie, Kašpárková, Alena, Olšovská, Eva
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic environment
Cosmetics industry
Environmental degradation
Environmental legislation
Fourier transforms
Fresh water
High density polyethylenes
Legislation
Low density polyethylenes
Marine environment
Microplastics
Personal grooming
Plastic pollution
Plastics
Pollutants
Polyesters
Polyethylene terephthalate
Polyvinyl chloride
Recycling
Review
Sampling
Textiles
Wastewater
Water treatment
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Summary:Plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, i.e., microplastics, have been detected in a number of environments. The number of studies on microplastics in marine environments, fresh water, wastewater, the atmosphere, and the human body are increasing along with a rise in the amounts of plastic materials introduced into the environment every year, all contributing to a range of health and environmental issues. Although the use of primary microplastics has been gradually reduced by recent legislation in many countries, new knowledge and data on these problems are needed to understand the overall lifecycle of secondary microplastics in particular. The aim of this review is to provide unified information on the pathways of microplastics into the environment, their degradation, and related legislation, with a special focus on the methods of their sampling, determination, and instrumental analysis. To deal with the health and environmental issues associated with the abundance of microplastics in the environment, researchers should focus on agreeing on a uniform methodology to determine the gravity of the problem through obtaining comparable data, thus leading to new and stricter legislation enforcing more sustainable plastic production and recycling, and hopefully contributing to reversing the trend of high amounts of microplastics worldwide.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph18147608