alt Hacker News> Repeat all steps in exactly the same way, but use distilled water.
But how do you know your source of distilled water isn't also contaminated?
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godelski • yesterday at 2:32 PM
You continue reading the comment and use the other version of a blank
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The point is that blank lets you measure that level of "background" contamination, which you then use to correct the measurements made on actual samples.
Suppose you measure around 100 plastic particles per unit in your blank and 1000 in a sample of A. This suggests that A enriches (sheds, etc) microplastic particles. On the other hand, if you found (say) 101 particles/unit in a sample of B, you'd conclude B doesn't do that.