TY - JOUR A1 - Wander, Lukas A1 - Lommel, Lukas A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Meyer, Klas A1 - Paul, Andrea T1 - Development of a Low-Cost Method for Quantifying Microplastics in Soils and Compost Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy T2 - Meas. Sci. Technol. N2 - Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a promising candidate for low-cost, nondestructive, and highthroughput mass quantification of microplastics in environmental samples. Widespread application of the technique is currently hampered mainly by the low sensitivity of NIR spectroscopy compared to thermoanalytical approaches commonly used for this type of analysis. This study shows how the application of NIR spectroscopy for mass quantification of microplastics can be extended to smaller analyte levels by combining it with a simple and rapid microplastic enrichment protocol. For this purpose, the widely used flotation of microplastics in a NaCl solution, accelerated by centrifugation, was chosen which allowed to remove up to 99 % of the matrix at recovery rates of 83–104 %. The spectroscopic measurements took place directly on the stainless-steel filters used to collect the extracted particles to reduce sample handling to a minimum. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were used to identify and quantify the extracted microplastics in the mass range of 1–10 mg. The simple and fast extraction procedure was systematically optimized to meet the requirements for the quantification of microplastics from common PE-, PP-, and PS-based packaging materials with a particle size < 1 mm found in compost or soils with high natural organic matter content (> 10 % determined by loss on ignition). Microplastics could be detected in model samples at a mass fraction of 1 mg g-1. The detectable microplastic mass fraction is about an order of magnitude lower compared to previous studies using NIR spectroscopy without additional enrichment. To emphasize the cost-effectiveness of the method, it was implemented using some of the cheapest and most compact NIR spectrometers available. PB - IOP Publishing Ltd. CY - Bristol KW - Mikroplastik KW - NIR KW - Sensor KW - Kompost KW - Multivariat PY - 2022 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/55260 AN - OPUS4-55260 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-552605 VL - 33 IS - 7 SP - 1 EP - 13 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany