Journal
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Volume 400, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123223
Keywords
Ocean; Atmosphere; Microplastics; Transport; Ecology
Categories
Funding
- National Key Research and Development Program [2016YFC1402205]
- National Natural Science Fund of China [41676190]
- ECNU Academic Innovation Promotion Program for Excellent Doctoral Students [YBNLTS2019-007]
- ECNU Future Scientist Incubation Program
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Atmospheric transport could be a significant pathway for inland microplastics (MPs, with size < 5 mm) to the ocean in addition to catchment runoff and coastal discharge. However, atmospheric input of MPs to the ocean is rarely quantified. To address this issue, transport of atmospheric MPs from source to sink was studied in the AsiaPacific region during nine cruises from October 2018 to September 2019. Both deposited atmospheric MPs (DAMPs) and suspended atmospheric MPs (SAMPs) were collected, ranging from 23.04 n/(m(2).d) to 67.54 n/(m(2).d), and 0 to 1.37 n/m(3), respectively. Size composition revealed that atmospheric deposition of MPs originating in terrestrial regions seems inadequate and insufficient to quantify the atmospheric input to the ocean. In addition, combined with aerodynamic modelling, for the first time, we estimated that 7.64-33.76 t of fibrous atmospheric MPs was globally generated in 2018, which is 3 % and 31 % of riverine input MPs of The Yangtze River and The Pearl River in terms of mid-point mass, respectively. The increasing load of ingestible plastics from sea air could have a far-reaching impact on marine ecosystem.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available