Occurrence and transport of microplastics sampled within and above the planetary boundary layer
METADATA ONLY
Loading...
Author / Producer
Date
2021-03-20
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
no
Citations
Altmetric
METADATA ONLY
Data
Rights / License
Abstract
Nowadays, there is no direct evidence about the presence of microplastics (MPs) in the atmosphere above ground level. Here, we investigated the occurrence, chemical composition, shape, and size of MPs in aircraft sampling campaigns flying within and above the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The results showed that MPs were present with concentrations ranging from 1.5 MPs m−3 above rural areas to 13.9 MPs m−3 above urban areas. MPs represented up to almost one third of the total amount of microparticles collected. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy allowed identifying seven types of MPs with the highest diversity corresponding to urban areas. Atmospheric transport and deposition simulations were performed using the HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. Air mass trajectory analyses showed that MPs could be transported more than 1000 km before being deposited. This pioneer study is the first evidence of the microplastic presence above PBL and their potential long-range transport from their point of release even crossing distant borders.
Permanent link
Publication status
published
Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
761
Pages / Article No.
143213
Publisher
Elsevier
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Airborne microplastics; Aircraft sampling; Atmospheric transport; Microplastics deposition; Planetary boundary layer
Organisational unit
03832 - Morgenroth, Eberhard / Morgenroth, Eberhard