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Progress on the Main Sources of Microplastics in the Environment and their Detection Methods

Author(s)

Muchen Han

Affiliation(s)

Shandong Experimental High School, Jinan, Shandong, China

Abstract

With the rapid development of modern economy, microplastics have become one of the important new pollutants. Microplastics are a new pollutant with a particle size of no more than 5 mm that can accumulate in the environment and organisms. In order to better evaluate microplastics pollution in the environment, the presence of microplastics in aquatic environment, air and food was reviewed in detail, and the main detection methods (microscopic analysis, scanning electron microscopy and spectral analysis, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, thermal analysis and mass spectrometry), advantages and disadvantages of microplastics were described. In summary, the detection of microplastics in aquatic environment is mainly by Raman spectroscopy, the detection of microplastics in air is mainly by eye inspection, and the detection of microplastics in food is mainly by scanning electron microscopy. Finally, this paper also looks forward to the challenges faced by microplastics detection and future research directions, to provide reference for scientific and reasonable research on microplastics in the future.

Keywords

Microplastics; Source; Detection Method; Advantages and Disadvantages

References

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