Pitfalls and Limitations in Microplastic Analyses

The rising plastic production in the last 70 years led to an increase in plastic waste in the environment. Intensive research activities about macroplastics and microplastics (MPs) started some years ago. Different sampling strategies, sample preparations and analysis methods have been described in the literature for different environmental compartments and biota. Until the present, many papers have been published about the quality and quantity of MPs in different matrices. Pitfalls and limitations in MP analyses are often missing or not discussed. Therefore, this chapter summarizes the present methods for sampling, sample preparation and analysis, discusses the related limitations and outlines the complexity regarding MP loss or contamination during sampling and laboratory work.