Using the power law size distribution to extrapolate and compare microplastic number and mass concentrations in environmental media

Using the power law size distribution to extrapolate and compare microplastic number and mass concentrations in environmental media | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Using the power law size distribution to extrapolate and compare microplastic number and mass concentrations in environmental media Théo Segur, Ian Hough, Nela Dobiasova, Didier Voisin, Camille Richon, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8524083/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 14 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Microplastic (MP) number concentrations in the environment increase exponentially with decreasing particle size. Studies reporting environmental MP concentrations typically do so for variable MP size ranges, depending on sampling, processing and analytical detection methods. This leads to difficulties in intercomparison and extrapolation of studies, which is critical for data reviews, plastic dispersion modeling, and environmental and human health risk assessment. In this study, we summarize the current understanding of the MP particle size distribution (PSD), based on the power law model. We highlight how standard linear regression of the power law slope is strongly biased by data binning, and show that fitting a cumulative PSD (C-PSD) removes the binning bias. The existing MP size-alignment framework is extended to C-PSDs to extrapolate observed MP number and mass concentrations to the full MP size range (1 to 5000 µm, noted MP 1 − 5000µm ), or any other sub-size range. We confront the C-PSD power law model with 62 published ocean and atmosphere PSDs from the literature, compiled in the MPsizeBase open access database. Fitted power law slopes for fragments (-2.76 ± 0.62) are steeper than for fibers (-1.84 ± 0.38), reflecting fragmentation dimensionality. Among MP fragments, PSD slopes do not vary significantly between the atmosphere, surface and subsurface ocean. We further demonstrate that the large discrepancy between surface ocean MP concentrations measured by net tows and discrete, pumped samples arise primarily from their different minimum detectable sizes. After aligning datasets to a common size range, fragment concentrations converge to within a factor of 10. In contrast, fiber concentrations from net tows remain lower than those from pumped samples, consistent with sampling losses and detection limitations for elongated particles. Across all 62 MP PSD datasets analysed, size-aligned \(\:{MP}_{1-5000\mu\:m}^{}\) number and mass concentrations are respectively 600x and 3x higher than reported concentrations, reflecting the high abundance of small particles predicted by the power law PSD. Together, these findings highlight that size extrapolation to a common range is essential to intercompare datasets and to distinguish environmental patterns from methodological artifacts. Contaminant pollution alignment harmonization atmosphere ocean soil sediment biota seawater freshwater risk nanoplastic macroplastic Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SI.zip Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 31 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 05 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 03 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 30 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 15 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Jan, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 07 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 05 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 05 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 05 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8524083","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":571069635,"identity":"72b0a9af-a0a5-4b50-8e98-fbe940a4a84f","order_by":0,"name":"Théo Segur","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCTiL+QBxOngQWtgSGBgSSNPCY0CcFnvp5oMPGP7Y2G24febzi48/GOR0ZzcwPubBZ4vMsWQDxra05A3ncrdZzkhgMDa7c4DZGK8WiRwzCcaGw8kGZ3i3GfMkMCRuu5HAJo1fS/43CYY//4FaeJ4Z/4FoYf9NwBY2CQa2A3ZALcyPGaC2MOPVciPN2CCxLTlB8gybGWNPmgTQLwebJefg0cI+I/nhgw9/7Oz5zjA//vDDxkbO7HbzwQ9v8GgBgwQGhsQGYFxKgBMDMDQIaQADeyBm/gBmSuBXOQpGwSgYBSMPAAA0jUonKyd77AAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Géosciences Environnement Toulouse","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Théo","middleName":"","lastName":"Segur","suffix":""},{"id":571069636,"identity":"3f49b844-78c0-48d3-8d83-d6d87c7b6d59","order_by":1,"name":"Ian Hough","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Grenoble Alpes University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ian","middleName":"","lastName":"Hough","suffix":""},{"id":571069637,"identity":"b726424b-9575-4b0b-bc0a-21efdf26f2ed","order_by":2,"name":"Nela Dobiasova","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Grenoble Alpes University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nela","middleName":"","lastName":"Dobiasova","suffix":""},{"id":571069640,"identity":"9ef5a0b0-a27f-4c36-b654-c2de6451a228","order_by":3,"name":"Didier Voisin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Grenoble Alpes University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Didier","middleName":"","lastName":"Voisin","suffix":""},{"id":571069643,"identity":"2013d4d7-28eb-4568-b95f-379e094194de","order_by":4,"name":"Camille Richon","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Camille","middleName":"","lastName":"Richon","suffix":""},{"id":571069649,"identity":"2e1dba83-f434-4d6d-9dfa-0113153c3294","order_by":5,"name":"Hélène Angot","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Grenoble Alpes University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hélène","middleName":"","lastName":"Angot","suffix":""},{"id":571069653,"identity":"7f60fbca-57bd-4d69-98f2-2ca32acd9c60","order_by":6,"name":"Jennie L. 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media\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"microplastics-and-nanoplastics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"mina","sideBox":"Learn more about [Microplastics and Nanoplastics](http://microplastics.springeropen.com)","snPcode":"43591","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/43591/3","title":"Microplastics and Nanoplastics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Contaminant, pollution, alignment, harmonization, atmosphere, ocean, soil, sediment, biota, seawater, freshwater, risk, nanoplastic, macroplastic","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8524083/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8524083/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMicroplastic (MP) number concentrations in the environment increase exponentially with decreasing particle size. Studies reporting environmental MP concentrations typically do so for variable MP size ranges, depending on sampling, processing and analytical detection methods. This leads to difficulties in intercomparison and extrapolation of studies, which is critical for data reviews, plastic dispersion modeling, and environmental and human health risk assessment. In this study, we summarize the current understanding of the MP particle size distribution (PSD), based on the power law model. We highlight how standard linear regression of the power law slope is strongly biased by data binning, and show that fitting a cumulative PSD (C-PSD) removes the binning bias. The existing MP size-alignment framework is extended to C-PSDs to extrapolate observed MP number and mass concentrations to the full MP size range (1 to 5000 \u0026micro;m, noted MP\u003csub\u003e1\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5000\u0026micro;m\u003c/sub\u003e), or any other sub-size range. We confront the C-PSD power law model with 62 published ocean and atmosphere PSDs from the literature, compiled in the MPsizeBase open access database. Fitted power law slopes for fragments (-2.76\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.62) are steeper than for fibers (-1.84\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.38), reflecting fragmentation dimensionality. Among MP fragments, PSD slopes do not vary significantly between the atmosphere, surface and subsurface ocean. We further demonstrate that the large discrepancy between surface ocean MP concentrations measured by net tows and discrete, pumped samples arise primarily from their different minimum detectable sizes. After aligning datasets to a common size range, fragment concentrations converge to within a factor of 10. In contrast, fiber concentrations from net tows remain lower than those from pumped samples, consistent with sampling losses and detection limitations for elongated particles. Across all 62 MP PSD datasets analysed, size-aligned \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{MP}_{1-5000\\mu\\:m}^{}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003enumber and mass concentrations are respectively 600x and 3x higher than reported concentrations, reflecting the high abundance of small particles predicted by the power law PSD. Together, these findings highlight that size extrapolation to a common range is essential to intercompare datasets and to distinguish environmental patterns from methodological artifacts.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Using the power law size distribution to extrapolate and compare microplastic number and mass concentrations in environmental media","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-08 04:59:11","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8524083/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-03-31T15:16:03+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-05T12:51:14+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-03T20:55:41+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-30T16:26:46+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-15T19:12:32+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"271034631145578356671728225113226599161","date":"2026-01-13T12:19:39+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"338081980250379210352999365772874148056","date":"2026-01-12T13:11:47+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"5160646568941437025666739062595794885","date":"2026-01-07T19:55:54+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"67881484629708642670269772791081643924","date":"2026-01-07T19:03:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"171337995506927275734545232159875018620","date":"2026-01-07T15:50:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-07T11:19:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-01-06T01:26:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-01-06T01:25:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Microplastics and Nanoplastics","date":"2026-01-05T18:07:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"microplastics-and-nanoplastics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"mina","sideBox":"Learn more about [Microplastics and Nanoplastics](http://microplastics.springeropen.com)","snPcode":"43591","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/43591/3","title":"Microplastics and Nanoplastics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"5638d8d3-67a0-4d91-b85b-3be5d0f3f8d6","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 8th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-15T09:18:00+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-08 04:59:11","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8524083","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8524083","identity":"rs-8524083","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}