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Updated: Sep 19, 2025

Protocol for Microplastics Sampling on the Sea Surface and Sample Analysis

Protocol for Microplastics Sampling on the Sea Surface and Sample Analysis

Published on: December 16, 2016

Implications of method- and instrument-based size detection limits in μFTIR-based microplastic analysis.

Siting Wang¹, Svenja M Mintenig², Jing Wu³

¹Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Wageningen University, the Netherlands; State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; Research and Development Center of Advanced Environmental Supervision Technology and Instrument, Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou) Tsinghua, Suzhou, 215163, China.

|June 4, 2025

Summary

Standardizing microplastic analysis is crucial. This study shows sieve mesh size and microscope objective choice significantly impact microplastic concentrations, recommending a 20 μm sieve and 15× objective for better comparability.

Keywords:

Microplastics Sieve mesh size Size distribution Suspended solid matter μFTIR

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Area of Science:

Environmental Science
Analytical Chemistry
Ecotoxicology

Background:

Spectroscopic methods are standard for microplastic research but lack standardization.
Inconsistent analytical factors lead to incomparable microplastic concentration data across studies.
Sieve mesh sizes and microscope objective choice are critical but under-quantified variables.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify the influence of sieve mesh size and μFTIR objective magnification on microplastic concentrations.
To assess the impact of these factors on particle number and mass in suspended solids.
To provide recommendations for improving standardization and comparability in microplastic analysis.

Main Methods:

Analysis of suspended solids from two Dutch rivers using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
Comparison of microplastic extraction using sieve mesh sizes of 20 μm and 5 μm.
Evaluation of μFTIR objectives at 4×, 15×, and 25× magnification for particle detection and size distribution.

Main Results:

Higher resolution μFTIR objectives (15×, 25×) detected more microplastics than lower resolution (4×).
Size distributions differed significantly between the 4× objective and higher magnifications.
Sieve mesh sizes did not provide sharp cut-offs; 14-38% of particles were outside nominal retention sizes.

Conclusions:

A 15× μFTIR objective offers a balance between detection sensitivity and analytical workload.
A 20 μm sieve is recommended for time efficiency in microplastic analysis due to negligible differences with a 5 μm sieve.
Development of read-across techniques is needed to enable data conversion between different analytical resolutions and mesh sizes.