JavaScript is disabled. Please enable to continue!
Print this page

Mobile search icon
Menu
Environment Testing >> Speciality Services >> Microplastics

Microplastics

Search >>

Plastic is a highly versatile material that has become indispensable in daily life. However, disposal and recycling pathways have often been overlooked, resulting in a significant proportion of plastic waste being released into the environment, where it fragments into microplastics.

Microplastics are defined as solid plastic or synthetic polymer particles that are insoluble in water and have a largest dimension between 1 µm and 5 mm (ISO 16094-2:2025). They are now ubiquitous across all environmental matrices. Recent toxicological studies indicate that microplastics may pose risks to human health and the environment, driving increasing global concern.

Our Capabilities

In 2019, Eurofins Environment Testing Australia opened its first microplastics laboratory in Melbourne. The Laser Direct Infrared (LDIR) Chemical Imaging System is used to enumerate, analyse and size microplastic particles ranging from 20 to 5,000 µm, supported by rigorous QA/QC procedures.

Since late 2023, the laboratory has held ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation for potable water, making it the first accredited microplastics testing facility in Australia. This was followed by accreditation for all water matrices in 2024.

Using methodologies aligned with current international standards, we analyse for the most common polymers, including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyurethane (PU), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyamide (PA).

We support a wide range of sample types, including:

Environmental samples icon Environmental samples/monitoring
Food icon Food and beverage
Agriculture icon Agriculture
Product testing icon Product testing
  • Water monitoring
  • Drinking water/bottled water/other drinks
  • Surface water
  • Wastewater
  • Groundwater
  • Sand & sediment
  • Soil, sludge, compost/biosolids and biodegradation residues
  • FOGO (Food and Garden Organics)
  • Air monitoring (indoor and ambient)
  • Aquaculture, wild fish, oysters, mussels (e.g., tissue, oil)
  • Raw and processed milk
  • Tea, Matcha and Coffee
  • Infant formula
  • Salt
  • Soil
  • Compost
  • Products
  • Cosmetics
  • Turf
  • Eye drops

 

Microplastic Image

All samples are processed in a dedicated, state-of-the-art microplastics laboratory using stringent QA/QC procedures, including daily cleaning protocols, air blanks, procedural blanks and laboratory control samples, in line with current ISO standards. In addition, the laboratory has participated in global interlaboratory comparison studies.

The laboratory was awarded the ALGA Industry Excellence Award (2022) for innovation advancing the practice of contaminated site assessment, management and/or remediation, as well as the NATA Excellence Award (2024) .

Eurofins operates six additional microplastics laboratories worldwide, enabling access to state-of-the-art microplastics analysis using FTIR, Raman, Pyrolysis GC-MS and Thermal Desorption GC-MS.

For more information and pricing, contact:
MicroPlasticsAUS@eurofinsanz.com