Table 2.

Analytical techniques currently used to identify and quantify micro (nano) plastics in the atmosphere

Techniques	Advantages	Limitations
Stereomicroscope	Large numbers of MPs may be identified at a minimal cost; particle size, color, and form can be easily determined It is simple, straightforward, and quick	Limitations of more than 500 µm; The examiner's subjectivity may cause significant inaccuracies There are no chemical confirmation results
FTIR	FTIR techniques are trustworthy, fast, and nondestructive Micro-FTIR can study particles as small as 20 µm, while FPA-FTIR may detect thousands of particles in a single measurement	The instruments are costly Samples must be IR active, and absorbance spectra from samples smaller than 20 µm may be challenging to interpret
Raman	A reliable technique, nondestructive and can detect particles down to 1 µm	Expensive, and there can be an interference by pigments during the analysis
SEM	The high-resolution image of the samples can be produced (< 0.5 nm resolution) and can detect surface textures of micro (nano) plastics The chemical composition of samples can be identified by SEM–EDS	It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive approach, and the samples must be prepared appropriately that is coating in a high vacuum for observation
Pyr-GC–MS	Polymer types and additives may be examined in a single run Pyr-GC–MS is unaffected by sample shape, size, or color, and the procedure is reliable	Time-consuming, expensive and destructive Morphological characterization of samples can not be detected Per run, only one particle with certain weight can be assessed, and its database is available only for selected polymers