Microplastics are now found everywhere, but detecting the tiny plastic particles is still a challenge. At analytica, which opens its doors in Munich from March 24 to 27, 2026, scientists, device manufacturers and users will work together to find solutions. An interview with Prof. Dr. Stephan Wagner, Professor of Environmental Analysis at the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Idstein and head of an analytica conference session on plastics analysis.

Professor Wagner, how mature is the analysis of microplastics?

With the appropriate reference materials, this works quite well in drinking water, although low concentrations are quite a challenge. It’s more difficult in wastewater because it contains all kinds of particles, not just plastic. For soil and air samples, it’s even more complicated. In the soil, the concentrations are usually lower, while in the air the particles are extremely small. However, air measurements are important, especially when you think of tire abrasion. The particles can be so small that they may be respirable.

What methods are used to detect microplastics?

The number of particles – and at the same time the shape, size and chemical composition – can be easily determined by optical microscopy in combination with FTIR or Raman spectroscopy. This is then called FTIR or Raman microscopy. Such complementary methods, which also include the combination of electron microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy, are becoming increasingly popular. In addition, there are the mass-based methods. The gold standard here is pyrolysis GC-MS. The sample is pyrolyzed at high temperatures, the gaseous pyrolysis products are separated by gas chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry. Depending on the matrix, however, there are interferences. This is a common problem with mass-based methods. And with small particles, even if there are many, the mass can be so low that the detector does not strike.

Will your analytica conference session shed light on the different methods?

Yes, but in the session we don’t just want to talk about microplastics in environmental samples. Before the material enters nature, it may be a cheese wrapper or a beverage bottle. So it’s also about product quality and how microplastics can be controlled and reduced in packaged or industrially processed foods in general.

What do you hope to gain from analytica?

For me, analytica is the leading trade fair par excellence because it brings together people from science, the equipment industry and application. In the sessions of the analytica conference, we discuss certain topics and then we go over to the exhibition halls, where we see the corresponding analysis systems and application notes. Sometimes device manufacturers also participate in the discussion in the sessions. This application proximity and exchange are important. It helps us enormously in the research laboratory when a manufacturer presents a new method or a new device that can solve our problems.

Thank you very much for the interview!

The session “Challenges and Solutions for Analyzing Plastics Throughout Their Life Cycle – Detecting Plastics Where They Don’t Belong”, chaired by Stephan Wagner, will take place on March 25 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the ICM (Room 3).

Solutions for plastics analysis

Modern systems that characterize plastics are indispensable not only in environmental analysis, but also in the development of more sustainable materials as well as in industrial production and quality control. analytica leaves no aspect out and provides information on all facets of plastics analysis. Information on FTIR and Raman microscopy can be obtained at the booths of attocube, Bruker, Horiba, Jasco, Keyence, Malvern Panalytical, Nikon, Oxford Instruments, PerkinElmer, Renishaw, Shimadzu and Thermo Fisher Scientific, among others. Leading manufacturers of optical microscopes are represented with Carl Zeiss Microscopy, Evident, Leica Microsystems and Nikon, as well as high-tech suppliers from the electron microscopy segment with Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jeol and Hitachi. Devices for pyrolysis GC-MS can be found in the portfolio of analytica exhibitors such as Agilent, Gerstel, Shimadzu, SIM and Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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