Raman spectroscopy is gaining ground in the analysis of microplastics, especially due to its high spatial resolution that allows the investigation of small plastic particles, whose numeric abundance is argued to be particularly relevant in aquatic systems. Here, we aimed at outlining the status of Raman analysis of microplastics from aquatic systems, highlighting the advantages and the drawbacks of this technique and critically presenting tools and ways to effectively employ this instrument and to improve the spectra obtained and their interpretation. In particular, we summarized procedural information for the use of Raman spectroscopy, and we discussed issues linked to fluorescence interference and the analysis of weathered polymers, which may complicate the interpretation of Raman signatures. In this context, a deep understanding of the different plastic polymers and their Raman peaks and chemical fingerprints is fundamental to avoid misidentification. Therefore, we provided a catalog with detailed information about peaks of most common plastic polymers, and this represents, to the best of our knowledge, the first comprehensive resource that systematically synthesized plastic Raman peaks. Additionally, we focused on plastic additives, which are contained in the majority of plastics. These compounds are often intense in Raman scattering and may partly or completely overlie the actual material types, resulting in the identification of additives alone or misidentification issue. For these reasons, we also presented a new R package “RamanMP” that includes a database of 356 spectra (325 of which are additives). This will help to foster the use of this technique, which is becoming especially relevant in microplastic analysis.

拉曼光谱在微塑料的分析中正在取得进展，特别是由于其高空间分辨率允许研究小塑料颗粒，其数量丰度被认为与水生系统特别相关。在这里，我们旨在概述对来自水生系统的微塑料进行拉曼分析的现状，强调该技术的优缺点，并批判性地介绍有效使用该仪器并改进获得的光谱及其解释的工具和方法。特别是，我们总结了使用拉曼光谱的程序信息，并讨论了与荧光干扰和风化聚合物分析相关的问题，这些问题可能会使拉曼特征的解释复杂化。在这种情况下，深入了解不同的塑料聚合物及其拉曼峰和化学指纹是避免错误识别的基础。因此，我们提供了一份包含最常见塑料聚合物峰的详细信息的目录，据我们所知，这是第一个系统合成塑料拉曼峰的综合资源。此外，我们专注于塑料添加剂，它包含在大多数塑料中。这些化合物在拉曼散射中通常很强烈，并且可能部分或完全覆盖实际材料类型，导致单独识别添加剂或错误识别问题。出于这些原因，我们还推出了一个新的 R 包“RamanMP”，其中包括一个包含 356 个光谱（其中 325 个是添加剂）的数据库。