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Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport

Microplastics are a global environmental issue contaminating aquatic and terrestrial environments. They have been reported in atmospheric deposition, and indoor and outdoor air, raising concern for public health due to the potential for exposure. Moreover, the atmosphere presents a new vehicle for m...

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Autores principales: Wright, S.L., Ulke, J., Font, A., Chan, K.L.A., Kelly, F.J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier Science 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7013824/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31889555
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105411
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author Wright, S.L.
Ulke, J.
Font, A.
Chan, K.L.A.
Kelly, F.J.
author_facet Wright, S.L.
Ulke, J.
Font, A.
Chan, K.L.A.
Kelly, F.J.
author_sort Wright, S.L.
collection PubMed
description Microplastics are a global environmental issue contaminating aquatic and terrestrial environments. They have been reported in atmospheric deposition, and indoor and outdoor air, raising concern for public health due to the potential for exposure. Moreover, the atmosphere presents a new vehicle for microplastics to enter the wider environment, yet our knowledge of the quantities, characteristics and pathways of airborne microplastics is sparse. Here we show microplastics in atmospheric deposition in a major population centre, central London. Microplastics were found in all samples, with deposition rates ranging from 575 to 1008 microplastics/m(2)/d. They were found in various shapes, of which fibrous microplastics accounted for the great majority (92%). Across all samples, 15 different petrochemical-based polymers were identified. Bivariate polar plots indicated dependency on wind, with different source areas for fibrous and non-fibrous airborne microplastics. This is the first evidence of airborne microplastics in London and confirms the need to include airborne pathways when consolidating microplastic impacts on the wider environment and human health.
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spelling pubmed-70138242020-03-01 Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport Wright, S.L. Ulke, J. Font, A. Chan, K.L.A. Kelly, F.J. Environ Int Article Microplastics are a global environmental issue contaminating aquatic and terrestrial environments. They have been reported in atmospheric deposition, and indoor and outdoor air, raising concern for public health due to the potential for exposure. Moreover, the atmosphere presents a new vehicle for microplastics to enter the wider environment, yet our knowledge of the quantities, characteristics and pathways of airborne microplastics is sparse. Here we show microplastics in atmospheric deposition in a major population centre, central London. Microplastics were found in all samples, with deposition rates ranging from 575 to 1008 microplastics/m(2)/d. They were found in various shapes, of which fibrous microplastics accounted for the great majority (92%). Across all samples, 15 different petrochemical-based polymers were identified. Bivariate polar plots indicated dependency on wind, with different source areas for fibrous and non-fibrous airborne microplastics. This is the first evidence of airborne microplastics in London and confirms the need to include airborne pathways when consolidating microplastic impacts on the wider environment and human health. Elsevier Science 2020-03 /pmc/articles/PMC7013824/ /pubmed/31889555 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105411 Text en © 2019 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Wright, S.L.
Ulke, J.
Font, A.
Chan, K.L.A.
Kelly, F.J.
Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport
title Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport
title_full Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport
title_fullStr Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport
title_full_unstemmed Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport
title_short Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport
title_sort atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7013824/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31889555
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105411
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