Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 118, Issue 16, Pages -Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2020719118
Keywords
microplastic pollution; plastic cycle; atmospheric microplastics; plastic aerosols; plastic deposition
Categories
Funding
- Agricultural Experimental Station Research Grants [UTA01421, UTA01384]
- NSF [1926559, 2011910, CCF-1522054]
- United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Agreement
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability
- NSF's National Center for Atmospheric Research Computing facilities
- Academy of Finland [322532]
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (MEXT/JSPS) KAKENHI [JP17H04709, JP19H05699]
- MEXT Arctic Challenge for Sustainability Grants (ArCS) [JPMXD1300000000]
- ArCS-II [JPMXD1420318865]
- Environment Research and Technology Development Fund 2-1703 of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency [JPMEERF20172003]
- Environment Research and Technology Development Fund 2-2003 of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency [JPMEERF20202003]
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Earth Sciences [2011910] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1926559] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Academy of Finland (AKA) [322532, 322532] Funding Source: Academy of Finland (AKA)
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Plastic pollution is a significant issue in the 21st century, with recent research focusing on the transport of microplastics by the atmosphere. Studies suggest that atmospheric microplastics in the western United States primarily come from secondary reemission sources, highlighting the importance of understanding the sources and pathways of atmospheric plastic pollution.
Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental and social issues of the 21st century. Recent work has highlighted the atmosphere's role in transporting microplastics to remote locations [S. Allen et al., Nat. Geosci. 12, 339 (2019) and J. Brahney, M. Hallerud, E. Heim, M. Hahnenberger, S. Sukumaran, Science 368, 1257-1260 (2020)]. Here, we use in situ observations of microplastic deposition combined with an atmospheric transport model and optimal estimation techniques to test hypotheses of the most likely sources of atmospheric plastic. Results suggest that atmospheric microplastics in the western United States are primarily derived from secondary reemission sources including roads (84%), the ocean (11%), and agricultural soil dust (5%). Using our best estimate of plastic sources and modeled transport pathways, most continents were net importers of plastics from the marine environment, underscoring the cumulative role of legacy pollution in the atmospheric burden of plastic. This effort uses high-resolution spatial and temporal deposition data along with several hypothesized emission sources to constrain atmospheric plastic. Akin to global biogeochemical cycles, plastics now spiral around the globe with distinct atmospheric, oceanic, cryospheric, and terrestrial residence times. Though advancements have been made in the manufacture of biodegradable polymers, our data suggest that extant nonbiodegradable polymers will continue to cycle through the earth's systems. Due to limited observations and understanding of the source processes, there remain large uncertainties in the transport, deposition, and source attribution of microplastics. Thus, we prioritize future research directions for understanding the plastic cycle.
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