Reply to Lenz et al. Quantifying the smallest microplastics is the challenge for a comprehensive view of their environmental impacts
Studies on impacts of emerging contaminants are challenging, as is the case for studying the smallest sizes <100 um) of microplastics, mainly because there is no clear view of their actual concentration and characteristics in the natural environment (1) Major developments are required to establish standardized procedures for collecting, fractionating, characterizing, and quantifying polymer particles; probably, the best promising method is in a liquid matrix. In our recent article on impacts of microplastics in oysters (2) the microplastic size tested was of 2 and 6 um, the size range preferentially ingested by filter feeders, which is
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences