  We report on a microfluidic method that allows measurement of a small
concentration of large contaminants in suspensions of solid micrometer-scale
particles. To perform the measurement, we flow the colloidal suspension through
a series of constrictions, i.e. a microchannel of varying cross-section. We
show and quantify the role of large contaminants in the formation of clogs at a
constriction and the growth of the resulting filter cake. By measuring the time
interval between two clogging events in an array of parallel microchannels, we
are able to estimate the concentration of contaminants whose size is selected
by the geometry of the microfluidic device. This technique for characterizing
colloidal suspensions offers a versatile and rapid tool to explore the role of
contaminants on the properties of the suspensions.
