Optical sensing technology for monitoring of microplastics from oceans

An innovative approach, based on HyperSpectral Imaging, was developed in order to set up an on-line efficient method to analyze marine microplastic pollution. HyperSpectral imaging was applied to samples collected by surface-trawling plankton nets from several parts of the world (i.e. Arctic, Mediterranean, South Atlantic and North Pacific). Reliable information on abundance, size, shape and polymer type for the whole ensemble of plastic particles in each sample was retrieved from single HyperSpectral images. The simultaneous characterization of the polymeric composition of the plastic debris represents an important analytical advantage since this information and even the validation of the plastic nature of the small debris is a common flaw in the analyses of marine microplastic pollution. HyperSpectral imaging was revealed as a rapid, non-invasive and reliable technology for the chemical characterization of the microplastics, opening a promising way for improving the plastic pollution monitoring.