Madeline Clough and Anne McNeil led a study at the University of Michigan that showed disposable gloves can produce particles that mimic microplastics. While preparing metal substrates for air sampling, the team used light-based spectroscopy to identify particle types and found unexpectedly high counts. After checking other sources, they traced the excess particles to nitrile and latex gloves.
The researchers tested seven types of gloves and simulated normal contact between a gloved hand and a sample surface. On average, gloves produced about 2,000 false positives per millimeter squared area. Scanning electron microscopy showed the stearate residues are visually like polyethylene and so can be misidentified.
With colleagues, the team identified analytical methods to separate true microplastics from glove-derived false positives and to recover affected datasets. The work appears in RSC Analytical Methods.
Difficult words
- disposable — intended to be used once
- microplastic — very small plastic particle in environmentmicroplastics
- spectroscopy — method using light to identify materialslight-based spectroscopy
- substrate — surface or material that samples sit onsubstrates
- nitrile — type of synthetic rubber used in gloves
- false positive — result that looks real but is wrongfalse positives
- stearate — a chemical residue from glove manufacturing
- scanning electron microscopy — a microscope method using electrons for images
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How might glove-derived particles change the results of an environmental sampling study?
- What steps could researchers take to avoid glove contamination during sampling?
- Should scientists report the type of gloves they used in methods sections? Why or why not?
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