Agilent 8700 LDIR Chemical Imaging System (Recent Publications)

Significance of the topic

Microplastics have emerged as pervasive contaminants in aquatic, terrestrial, and biological systems. Accurate, high-throughput identification and quantification are essential for assessing environmental exposure, human health risks, and the effectiveness of remediation and treatment processes. Laser Direct Infrared (LDIR) imaging presents a promising solution by combining rapid analysis with robust polymer identification across diverse sample matrices.

Objectives and overview of studies

• Compile and evaluate recent peer-reviewed research employing the Agilent 8700 LDIR Chemical Imaging System.
• Compare performance across multiple environments: marine water, estuarine sediments, soils, wastewater, drinking water, groundwater, food, and biological tissues.
• Highlight methodological advances in sample preparation, imaging throughput, and polymer recovery.

Applied methodology and instrumentation

• Sample collection: filtration of water (20–500 µm), fractionated inert systems for ocean transects, enzymatic-oxidative digestion for soils and biota.
• Preconcentration: polycarbonate filters on Kevley slides, laser microdissection pressure catapulting for single-particle handling.
• LDIR parameters: detection range down to 10–20 µm, automated spectral matching without manual reassignment, ATR-FTIR validation for >300 µm particles.
• Instrumentation: Agilent 8700 Laser Direct Infrared Chemical Imaging System for rapid, label-free polymer identification and size/shape characterization.

Main results and discussion

• Identification accuracy exceeded 97% across large datasets without manual reassignments.
• High-throughput analysis of up to 1 000 particles in 1–2 hours, far surpassing FTIR and Raman in speed.
• Recoveries of 80–100% for reference polymers (PP, PE, PS, PVC, PET) and quantification of particles as small as 10 µm in complex matrices.
• Consistent detection of dominant polymers (PS, PU, PET, PA, PP, PE) in environmental and biological samples.
• Demonstrated applicability to hydrological studies, agricultural soil monitoring, wastewater treatment evaluation, drinking water safety, food packaging leachables, human exposure in sputum, placental tissues, and model organisms.

Benefits and practical applications

• Automated workflows streamline QA/QC in environmental monitoring and regulatory compliance.
• Simultaneous particle counting, sizing, morphologic classification, and polymer identification reduces time and error.
• Enables spatiotemporal mapping of microplastic distributions, contributing to source tracking and impact assessment.
• Supports multidisciplinary studies from marine pollution to human health, agricultural remediation, and drinking water treatment efficacy.

Future trends and potential applications

• Integration with machine learning and deep learning models to enhance polymer classification and reduce training time.
• Advancements toward nanoplastic detection, pushing size limits below 10 µm.
• Standardization of protocols for cross-laboratory comparability and method validation.
• Coupling LDIR with laser microdissection pressure catapulting for single-particle validation and number-based validation strategies.
• Development of complementary mass-based quantification techniques to provide combined mass/particle metrics.

Conclusion

The Agilent 8700 LDIR Chemical Imaging System offers a robust, high-throughput platform for comprehensive microplastic analysis. Its rapid data acquisition, high identification accuracy, and versatility across matrices make it an indispensable tool for environmental scientists, regulatory agencies, and public health researchers.

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