Application of Raman microspectroscopy for the characterization of microplastics in clam Chamelea gallina

Raman microspectroscopy (µRaman) is a technique successfully used for the physicochemical and morphological characterizaton of microplastics (MPs) with dimensions up to 1 µm. For the development of the extracton protocol, evaluations are made on the type of flters to be used, considering diferent parameters such as the time required for the filtraton step, recovery rates obtained on standard materials, readability and cost of filters. The filter type is chosen considering the best compromise between all these parameters. Once the extraction and filtraton steps are set, the next stage of development concerns the reading strategy, another critical aspect that emerges from the study of the scientific literature on the applicaton of μRaman for MPs characterization. Two different strategies using stereomicroscope and μRaman are combined, and the differences are evaluated to establish the most suitable instrumental protocol for an effective characterization and identificaton of MPs. All these aspects have been taken into consideraton in the development of an analytcal protocol for the analysis of MPs in clam Chamelea gallina with μRaman. Acknowledgments: This study is part of the PLASTICVONG research project (2022) and is fnancially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (IZS AM 07/22 RC)