Microplastics research and analyses

Sampling, detection, characterization and polymer analyses of microplastics in water, sediment, soil and biological matrices.

MARLab team pioneered microplastics research in Portugal in 2008. 

We have great expertise in microplastic sampling and analyses of particles and fibres sampling and analyses in several matrices (e.g. water, sediment and biota) using the latest available techniques and follow the most relevant developments in this field, in order to deliver state-of-art results and data interpretation.

Along these years we have built transdisciplinary international partnerships to develop new approaches for better detection of microplastics and we have also participated in intercalibration exercises.

Microplastics detection and characterization studies have application in several areas and are of interest to entities such as municipal/local and regional administrations, as well as environmental, food and health institutions and academia R&D (from environmental monitoring to ecotoxicology and risk assessment).

Specific applications include microplastic detection, characterization and polymer identification in water (drinking water, treated water, river, seawater), sediments, soils and biological samples (including food items).