Sources and fate of atmospheric microplastics revealed from inverse and dispersion modelling: From global emissions to deposition

0555442 - ÚTIA 2023 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Evangeliou, N. - Tichý, Ondřej - Eckhardt, S. - Groot Zwaaftink, Ch. - Brahney, J.
Sources and fate of atmospheric microplastics revealed from inverse and dispersion modelling: From global emissions to deposition.
Journal of Hazardous Materials. Roč. 432, č. 1 (2022), č. článku 128585. ISSN 0304-3894. E-ISSN 1873-3336
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA20-27939S
Institutional support: RVO:67985556
Keywords : Microplastics * Microfibers * Transport * Dispersion * Airborne contaminants
OECD category: Meteorology and atmospheric sciences
Impact factor: 13.6, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2022/AS/tichy-0555442.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389422003739?via%3Dihub

We combine observations from Western USA and inverse modelling to constrain global atmospheric emissions of microplastics (MPs) and microfibers (MFs). The latter are used further to model their global atmospheric dy­namics. Global annual MP emissions were calculated as 9.6 +- 3.6 Tg and MF emissions as 6.5 +- 2.9 Tg. Global average monthly MP concentrations were 47 ng m-3 and 33 ng m-3 for MFs, at maximum. The largest deposition of agricultural MPs occurred close to the world’s largest agricultural regions. Road MPs mostly deposited in the East Coast of USA, Central Europe, and Southeastern Asia, MPs resuspended with mineral dust near Sahara and Middle East. Only 1.8% of the emitted mass of oceanic MPs was transferred to land, and 1.4% of land MPs to ocean, the rest were deposited in the same environment. Previous studies reported that 0.74–1.9 Tg y-1 of land-based atmospheric MPs/MFs (< 5 mm) are transported to the ocean, while riverine transport is between 3.3 and 14 Tg y-1. We calculate that 0.418 +- 0.201 Tg y-1 MPs/MFs (size up to 250 and 2500 μm) were transported from the land to ocean (large particles were ignored). Model validation against observations showed that particle removal must be urgently updated in global models.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0330267