Zou Wenqi， Liu Weiwei， Liu Yan， Gao Xia
Institute of Analysis and Testing， Beijing Academy of Science and Technology （Beijing Center for Physical & Chemical Analysis）， Beijing Key Laboratory of Organic Materials Testing Technology &Quality Evaluation， Beijing Key Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence Fully Automated Experimental Systems， Beijing Key Laboratory of Risk Control for Emerging Contaminants， Beijing 100089， China
Abstract
Significance Microplastic pollution has evolved into a systemic challenge involving plastic design， product application， aging， environmental migration， exposure risks， and regulatory detection， rather than merely a task of identifying environmental particles. Conventional end-of-pipe detection only reveals the presence and quantity of microplastics but cannot clarify their sources， migration pathways， and key emission reduction links. Microplastics are released throughout the full life cycle of plastic products， including production， use， aging， recycling， and disposal， with release behaviors closely related to material formulations， product designs， and service conditions. Sole reliance on end-point monitoring fails to support source tracing， product market access regulation， and source reduction. Accordingly， it is essential to transform the governance model toward source control， full life cycle management， and risk-oriented regulation. This review elaborates the underlying logic of such transformation and explores feasible technical pathways for the coordinated development of materials science， analytical testing， standardization， toxicology， artificial intelligence， and high-end testing instruments. It aims to provide a systematic technical framework for microplastic source reduction， emerging pollutant control， and plastic pollution prevention in China.
Progress So far， three main directions of progress， i.e.， analytical method standardization， life‑cycle release assessment， and risk evidence chain construction， have been developed in microplastic governance， among which standardization has been the pioneering direction. In 2023， ISO published ISO 24187， which established minimum principles for sampling， preparation， and particle size classification but did not prescribe monitoring actions. In 2025， ISO 16094‑2 further provided vibrational spectroscopy guidelines for low‑suspended‑solids water and drinking water， while the ISO 4484 series covered textile washing loss and release mass determination. These mark the first horizontal principles in the microplastic field. Subsequently， different regional systems have been introduced to demonstrate regulatory linkages. The European Union adopted the JRC drinking water method via Decision （EU） 2024/1441， requiring tandem filtration， optical/chemical imaging， and spectral confirmation， and reporting number concentrations for 20 μm-5 mm particles and 20 μm-15 mm fibers. Meanwhile， REACH Regulation （EU） 2023/2055 restricted intentionally added synthetic polymer microparticles， linking measurement to product management. The United States followed NOAA manuals and ASTM standards （D8332， D8333， D8401， and D8402）， covering sampling， preparation， pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry quantification， and reference material preparation. However， all these systems remain limited by the lack of unified terminology， cross‑matrix methods， and quality assurance， while the Chinese national standard system， represented by the adoption of ISO 24187 （under approval） and the release of GB/T 47769.1—2026 and GB/T 47769.3—2026 for textile washing， remains at an early stage as of 2026.
Conclusions and Prospects Microplastic governance has advanced substantially over the past decade， enabling a range of new applications from environmental monitoring to product release testing and risk‑based regulation. Different mechanisms， e.g.， horizontal standards， matrix‑specific methods， and AI‑enhanced analytics， have been introduced into microplastic research to improve data quality and decision support. However， most of these approaches remain fragmented， including inconsistent terminologies， non‑comparable reporting units， and weak linkages between particle counts and chemical toxicity. These limitations weaken the evidence chain and prevent effective source control， especially at the interface between material design and environmental exposure. A closed loop of material design—release testing—intelligent detection—toxicological verification—standard revision—product market access—material optimization is proposed. It contains a data flow， a risk-based decision flow， and feedback from product performance， monitoring， and toxicology to material and method redesign.
Keywords： microplastic； governance model； full life cycle； detection standard； artificial intelligence； risk assessment
Get Citation: Zou Wenqi， Liu Weiwei， Liu Yan， et al. Research progress of transformation of microplastic governance models from pollution identification to systematic control［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2027， 33（1）： 1-16.
Received：2026-07-06， Revised： 2026-09-05，Online： 2026-网上出版日期:09-23。
Funding： The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52504283) and the Innovation Program of Beijing Academy of Science and Technology (Grant No. 26CA007).
CLC No.：X592； TB4
Type Code：A
Serial No.：1008-5548（2027）01-0001-16
