Analysis and detection methods of microplastics in the environment

Microplastics as a new type of pollutants have attracted much attention due to their widespread occurrence and adverse effect. Analysis and detection of microplastics are important parts of the field of microplastics research. However, there are no standards of microplastics analysis from sample collection to detection. This chapter detailed microplastics analysis in environment including sampling techniques in different environmental media such as water, soil and air, pretreatment methods such as digestion and density separation, and analysis by microscope, spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and energy spectroscopy. In addition, the advantage and disadvantage of different techniques were also compared. Finally, the potential directions for the development of microplastics analysis are prospected.