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Updated: Oct 14, 2025

Protocol for Microplastics Sampling on the Sea Surface and Sample Analysis
Published on: December 16, 2016
A comparison of spectroscopic analysis methods for microplastics: Manual, semi-automated, and automated Fourier
Young Kyoung Song1, Sang Hee Hong2, Soeun Eo2
1Risk Assessment Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Geoje-shi 53201, South Korea.
Abstract:
This study was conducted to establish the best practice for microplastic analysis by reducing the time demand and human bias and comparing the characteristics of μ-FTIR and Raman techniques. A manual analysis, semi-automated method, and fully automatic identification method were compared. Fully automated identification took the shortest time to analyze a whole filter paper (Ø25 mm), but its false positive identification rate was 80 ± 15%. The semi-automated analysis using spectrum profiling was suitable for all aspects of microplastic analysis. It was less time consuming than the manual analysis (manual: 6.1 ± 0.8 h, semi-automated: 4.0 ± 0.6 h), and 22 ± 12% more microplastic particles were detected using the semi-automated method compared to the manual analysis due to the reduction in false negative results. Raman microscopy was suitable for small microplastic (>5 μm) identification, although the Raman analysis took nine times longer than the semi-automated analysis.
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