Intra-Laboratory Calibration Exercise for Quantification of Microplastic Particles in Fine-Grained Sediment Samples: Special Focus on the Influence of User Experience

An intra-laboratory calibration to quantify microplastic in fine-grained marine sediments was performed with two objectives: (a) determine the recovery rate of self-produced microplastics characterized by a size ranging from 220 µm 5 mm and differing color (pink, orange, gray, yellow, silver), shape (fragments, filaments, spheres, films), chemical composition (polystyrene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polypropylene, poly(methyl methacrylate)) artificially introduced into real samples; (b) analyze whether operator experience can be key factor quality results. To answer this question, same protocol assigned an experienced inexperienced operator. The results comparison are detailed terms root mean square percent error. Possible strategies increase presented, ad hoc category, namely “glitter”, created adjust respect unique type usually ignored excluded analysis.