A Flow-through Passive Sampler for Microplastics in Air

Microplastics (MP) in air have attracted increasing attention because of their ubiquitous presence. Accurate atmospheric concentrations of MP are essential for evaluating their capacity for long-range transport and for assessing human inhalation risk. In order to sample airborne MP in locations with limited power supply, we adapted a flow-through passive sampler by placing a glass fiber filter in the inner sampling tube. To test the new sampler's performance under field conditions, two sizes of the flow-through sampler (with diameters of 20 and 10 cm) and a conventionally pumped high-volume air sampler were co-deployed on the Lhasa campus of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research. Accurate sampling volumes could be estimated from a relationship between wind speeds recorded outside and inside of the flow-through sampler. Atmospheric concentrations and compositions of MP that compared favorably with those obtained by active sampling indicate that the larger version of the flow-through passive sampler can provide reproducible and quantitative information on atmospheric MP at sites with limited or unreliable power supply. This capability should be useful in large-scale and high-temporal resolution air monitoring networks for MP.

Automated summary

In order to sample airborne microplastics in locations with limited power supply, researchers improved a flow-through passive sampler by placing a glass fiber filter in the inner sampling tube. Field experiments conducted at the Lhasa campus of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research showed that the flow-through sampler accurately collected atmospheric concentrations and compositions of microplastics, making it a reliable and quantitative method for sites with limited or unreliable power supply.