In addition to the ocean and marine life, microplastics have also been found in land ecosystems and the air. For instance, a study reveals that 3 million plastic bottles' worth of microplastics is found in the air in one city in New Zealand.
There are hundreds of airborne microplastics per square meter of air, according to earlier studies carried out in major global cities such as London, Paris, and Hamburg. The numbers above, according to a recent study on microplastic pollution in Auckland, New Zealand, are a vast understatement of how serious the situation is.
Airborne Microplastics
The 2020 study, led by scientists from the University of Auckland, calculates that microplastics released into the city each year reach 74 metric tons, which is the same as 3,000,000 plastic bottles dropping from the sky!
On average, 4,885 airborne microplastics per square meter per day were found. When compared to London, where there were 771 as per a study published in 2020; Hamburg, where there were 275 as per a study from 2019; and Paris, where there were 110 as reported in 2016; this is a huge number.
Because this new study utilized highly advanced chemical methods to find and analyze particles as minute as 0.01 of a millimeter, the vast discrepancy in these estimates can be explained.
Additionally, it raises questions about how much of it people may be inhaling and gathering in their bodies given how tiny these particles are.
Waves to Winds
Additionally, it raises questions about how much of it people may be inhaling and gathering in their bodies given how tiny these particles are.
Researchers noticed an increase in microplastic figures after wind gusts from the gulf increased in speed, which probably resulted in larger waves and much more transmission. This suggests that the effect was at work.
Dr. Joel Rindelaub from the University of Auckland said that breaking waves may play a significant role in the global transport of microplastic particles by producing airborne microplastics. Additionally, it might shed light on how some microplastics enter the atmosphere and travel to far-off regions like this one in New Zealand.
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Location-Sorted?
Meanwhile, the direction of the wind affected the particle sizes. The microplastics downwind were larger when winds passed over Auckland's downtown, indicating that they had undergone less environmental aging and originated from a nearby source.
The main substance found was polyethylene, which was then followed by polycarbonate, which is followed by polyethylene terephthalate. The use of polycarbonate in electrical and electronic applications contrasts with the use of the other two materials as packaging. They are all employed in the construction sector.
Rindelaub says that this is noteworthy because the most toxicologically relevant sizes are the smallest.
Nine weeks of the experiment were conducted in September, October, and November 2020. Future research, according to researchers, needs to determine exactly how much plastic people are breathing in because it is increasingly obvious that this is a significant source of exposure, The Weather Channel reports.
Inhaled Microplastics
Researchers from the University of Auckland discovered the microplastics were so small that there was concern they could be inhaled and build up in the human body. The findings in Rindelaub and his team's research were recently published in Environmental Science & Technology.
The tiniest particles, known as nanoplastics, have the potential to enter cells, continue to cross the blood-brain barrier, and eventually accumulate in various organs, including the testicles, liver, and brain. The placenta has also been found to contain plastic.
The study also discovered that microplastics were larger downwind when winds passed over Auckland's downtown, indicating that the plastics had undergone less environmental aging and originated from a closer source, Newshub reports.
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