Quantitative image analysis of microplastics in bottled water using Artificial Intelligence

10 April 2023, Version 2
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

The ubiquitous occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in the environment and the use of plastics in packaging materials result in the presence of MPs in the food chain and the exposure of consumers. Yet, no fully validated analytical method is available for microplastic (MP) quantification, thereby preventing the reliable estimation of the level of exposure and, ultimately, the assessment of the food safety risks associated with MP contamination. In this study, a novel approach is presented that exploits interactive artificial intelligence tools to enable the automation of MP analysis. An integrated method for the analysis of MPs in bottled water based on Nile Red staining and fluorescent microscopy was developed and validated, featuring a partial interrogation of the filter and a fully automated image processing workflow based on a Random Forest classifier, thereby boosting the analysis speed. The image analysis provided particle count, size and size distribution of the MPs. From these data, a rough estimation of the mass of the individual MPs, and consequently of the MP mass concentration in the sample, could be obtained as well. Critical materials, method performance characteristics, and final applicability were studied in detail. The method showed to be highly sensitive in sizing MPs down to 10 µm, with a particle count limit of detection and quantification of 28 and 85 items/500 mL, respectively. Linearity of mass concentration determined between 10 ppb and 1.5 ppm showed a regression coefficient of (R2) of 0.99. Method precision was demonstrated by repeatability of 9 - 16% RSD (n = 7) and within-laboratory reproducibility of 15 - 27 % RSD (n = 21). Accuracy based on recovery was 92 ± 15 % and 98 ± 23 % at a level of 0.1 and 1.0 ppm, respectively. The quantitative performance characteristics thus obtained complied with regulatory requirements. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the analysis of twenty commercial samples of bottled water, with and without gas and flavor additives, yielding results ranging from values below the limit of detection to 7237 (95% CI [6456, 8088]) items/500 mL.

Keywords

microplastics
method validation
bottled water
nile red
artificial intelligence

Supplementary materials

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Supplementary materials
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The supplementary material contains (i) sample details of commercial samples of bottled water analysed in the manuscript; (ii) performance characteristics of the ImageJ-based workflow; (iii) microplastics quantification in bottled water and related bootstrap estimate; (iv) particle size and particle size distribution of microplastics isolated from bottled water; (iv) schematic diagram for the fluorescence microscopy image acquisition; (v) image of the Nile Red stained polyethylene MP used for image processing
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