Abstract

This dataset contains calibration, recovery, and statistical evaluation data elaborated to assess the impact of UV ageing on the analytical determination of microplastics by Py-GC-MS. Microplastics were artificially generated from everyday products composed of four common polymer types: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polystyrene (PS), and polyamide-6,6 (PA66) and each one has been analysed in both unaged and UV-aged forms. Quantitative analyses were performed with the addition of an internal standard (1,3,5-tri-tert-butylbenzene) and a derivatization reagent (tetramethylammoniuim hydroxide). Recovery experiments were performed following sample pretreatment including Fenton reaction and filtration. The effect of UV ageing on calibration sensitivity and analytical recovery was statistically evaluated by two-sided Student's t-tests.