Microplastics are small pieces of plastic that are less than five millimetres long and can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life. They can be unintentionally formed when larger pieces of plastic get damaged and break. Tiny pieces of polyethylene plastic are also added intentionally to health and beauty products such as toothpastes and cleansers. They then pass unchanged through waterways into the ocean.
Using the NOAA method, we provide microplastics testing to quantify microplastics in marine environmental samples and calculate concentrations using a variety of metrics.
Once you’ve taken your sample, contact our team to arrange collection and we’ll deliver the sample to our laboratory.
Samples are prepared and analysed by our team of experts in accordance with the requirements set out by UKAS.
A certificate of analysis will be sent containing the findings from the test carried out. Reports are issued in Excel and PDF, but can also be supplied in other formats.
Our laboratories are accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to the British, European and International Standard for quality assurance in analytical laboratories – BS EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017. Many of the tests we provide are also accredited by UKAS. View the UKAS schedules.
The use of correct sampling containers is crucial for preserving the integrity of the samples and complying with UKAS requirements regarding deviating (or non-conforming samples). Contact your account manager for more information and to order the correct container for your sample.
Reports are sent out by Excel and PDF as standard. We can also supply reports in AGS, HWOL (Haz Waste Online), ESdat and CSV if requested.
