**Title: Possible Misclassification of Microplastics Due to Particles from Laboratory Gloves**<\/p>\n
Recent studies have revealed that particles released from laboratory gloves are being misclassified as microplastics, potentially skewing atmospheric pollution measurements. Historically, contamination in microplastic research is frequently caused by wet contact, where particles are transported through water or reagents during handling. Nonetheless, this new research underscores the influence of dry contact contamination from laboratory gloves.<\/p>\n
Madeleine Clough from the University of Michigan notes that during their experiments, pressing a gloved finger onto a substrate and analyzing it uncovered an unexpectedly large number of particles. These particles stem from a stearate coating on the gloves, which facilitates their release from molds. These stearate particles are often erroneously identified by spectral libraries as common microplastic polyethylene due to their analogous IR and Raman spectral signatures, both possessing long hydrocarbon chain C\u2013H bonds.<\/p>\n
Utilizing photothermal IR, Clough and her colleagues discovered submicron stearate deposits, many smaller than 5\u00b5m, which inadvertently inflated polyethylene estimates in their atmospheric samples. Upon this realization, Clough revisited their sampling sites to gather samples without gloves, uncovering a considerable difference.<\/p>\n
Their investigation involving seven types of gloves revealed an average misidentification rate of 2000 particles per mm\u00b2 as microplastics, with certain samples presenting up to 7000 false positives. In fact, there were only three genuine microplastic particles per mm\u00b2, as stated by co-lead Anne McNeil.<\/p>\n
McNeil and Clough stress the sensitivity of their advanced equipment to smaller particles, cautioning that other researchers might underestimate microplastic concentrations if their instruments are unable to detect these smaller, more harmful particles. They recognize the current condition of the research field as tumultuous but view it as a natural phase in scientific advancement.<\/p>\n
Microplastics in the natural world can degrade to sizes smaller than 5\u00b5m, presenting significant environmental and health hazards. Clough emphasizes that awareness of contamination risks and sophisticated techniques such as photothermal IR will be essential in gauging global microplastic pollution levels.<\/p>\n
The research underscores how traditional approaches for detecting microplastics are coming under scrutiny and highlights the necessity for establishing ‘best practice’ protocols. Dan Biggerstaff, technical director for LGC Standards, points out the distinctiveness of photothermal IR while emphasizing the urgent need for validated sample preparation methods.<\/p>\n
The implementation of gloveless methodologies in atmospheric pollution sampling may help diminish contamination. While sterile gloves decreased false positives, Clough envisions a future where sampling might eliminate gloves entirely if skin contact risks can be reduced.<\/p>\n
Biggerstaff also mentions a desire for further exploration, such as washing gloved hands with soap and water, to determine if this could effectively eliminate particles, emphasizing the significance of ongoing research in this domain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
**Title: Possible Misclassification of Microplastics Due to Particles from Laboratory Gloves** Recent studies have revealed that particles released from laboratory gloves are being misclassified as microplastics, potentially skewing atmospheric pollution measurements. Historically, contamination in microplastic research is frequently caused by wet contact, where particles are transported through water or reagents during handling. Nonetheless, this new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":372688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[174],"class_list":["post-372687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-source-chemistryworld-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=372687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/372688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=372687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=372687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=372687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}