National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 24187:2023. It is identical to ISO 24187:2023.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PRI/89, Plastics - Environmental Aspects.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 September 2023.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 61, Plastics, Subcommittee SC 14, Environmental aspects, in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 249, Plastics, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

The analysis of plastics and microplastics is a new field in relation to other areas of environmental analysis. A large number of scientific publications exist, but they do not apply a uniform analysis, which makes it difficult to compare the results.

This document sets out key principles for the investigation of microplastics in the environment, which should be taken into account in the subsequent development of specific procedures for sampling, sample preparation and detection. A large number of the principles described in this document can be applied, analogously, to other matrices and products, including foodstuffs and drinking water. The objective is to present a pool of methods and notes that are as harmonized as possible and to make it available for use in science, businesses and administrations.

What is true for analytics is also true for definitions in the same way. On the one hand, the terms used in this document are based on existing definitions in the subject area, but on the other hand, analytical requirements are also taken into account. This applies, for example, to the term “large microplastics”. The particle size to be investigated is closely related to the detection method to be selected. In the course of future specific work, it can be necessary to modify existing definitions slightly and adapt them to new knowledge and requirements.

With regard to the definitions, including the idea of size classes, it is pointed out that discussion is ongoing in various technical committees in ISO and other standardization bodies. The definitions in this document show the status in ISO TC 61/SC 14. The definitions chosen in this document are adapted from ISO/TR 21960:2020. The basis of the classification is based on the metric sizes and the associated designations. Microplastics is thus derived from micrometres.

NOTE Microplastics can also stem from different sources not specifically mentioned in this document, such as textiles, paints and tyres.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 23 July 2023.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN ISO 24187:2023) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 61 "Plastics" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 249 “Plastics” the secretariat of which is held by SIS.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by March 2024, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by March 2024.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 24187:2023 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 24187:2023 without any modification.

1 Scope

This document describes the principles to be followed in the analysis of microplastics in various environmental matrices. This includes the unique particle size classification of plastics, the use of certain apparatus with regard to sampling, sample preparation, and the determination of representative sample quantities.

The purpose of this document is to specify minimum requirements until specific standards for the different case situations are available. This is important to ensure that the development of the specific standards is done on a consistent basis to ensure that comparison or correlation of results is possible.

This document does not include requirements for monitoring actions.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 General aspects

5 General requirements for all analytical steps

6 Identification of appropriate detection methods

6.1 General

6.2 Detection techniques

6.3 Identification of objective to be addressed

7 Sampling of water

7.1 General

7.2 Sample volume

7.3 Mesh sizes

7.4 Filter materials

8 Sampling of terrestrial, semiterrestrial and subhydric soils

8.1 General

8.2 Sampling of terrestrial soils

8.3 Sampling of semiterrestrial soils

8.4 Sampling of subhydric soils (sediments)

9 Sampling of air

9.1 Indoor air

9.2 Outdoor air

10 Sampling of sludges and other similar materials

11 Sampling of mineral and other inorganic materials

12 Sampling of biota

13 Sample preparation

13.1 General aspects

13.2 Drying

13.3 Milling and grinding

13.4 Removal of inorganic matter

13.5 Removal of organic matter

14 Data processing

14.1 General aspects

14.2 Single spectra/chromatogram interpretation

14.3 Interpretation of large spectra/chromatogram data sets

15 Aspects of analytical quality assurance

15.1 Reference materials

15.2 Performance of interlaboratory comparison tests

Bibliography

BS EN ISO 24187:2023

Principles for the analysis of microplastics present in the environment

Current

Published:

30 Sep 2023