Microplastics Analysis: From Qualitative to Quantitative

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are a class of non-degradable pollutants of global concern. MPs ubiquitously exist in the natural environment and can inevitably transfer to the human body. Although the impacts of MPs on the ecosystem are not clearly defined yet, the harmfulness to human health is becoming a consensus. The complexity of MPs caused by the habitation of heavy metals and organic pollution further makes it a great challenge to analyze MPs rapidly and accurately. Demanding pretreatment and insufficient data acquisition seriously hinder the precise understanding of the risk of MPs to the ecosystem and human health. Here, this review covers recent advances in the MPs separation, identification, and quantification methods while discussing their mechanisms and efficacy. Furthermore, this review details the use of Fourier infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry for qualitative and quantitative analysis of MPs, offering a comprehensive overview of the up-to-date strategies that overcome current technological limitations. Finally, challenges and prospective outlooks for rapid and accurate analysis of MPs are presented.