Ordinary Lab Gloves May Have Skewed Microplastic Data
Summary
A new study shows common lab gloves shed stearates that mimic microplastics, skewing data. The team found that nitrile and latex gloves can produce about 2,000 false positives per square millimeter of contact, while clean-room gloves without stearates reduced that to about 100. The results imply researchers should refine their methods, and while microplastics pollution is real, measurement artifacts may inflate estimates.