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Elucidating microplastic's seasonal occurrence in urban indoor and outdoor aerosol
Summary
Scientists conducted the first year-long study of airborne microplastics in both indoor and outdoor air in Madrid, Spain, finding that indoor exposure was roughly four times higher than outdoor levels. Indoor microplastic concentrations averaged 124 particles per cubic meter per day, dominated by polystyrene and polyethylene from textiles and consumer products. The results suggest that people may face their greatest microplastic inhalation risk inside their own homes and workplaces.
This study investigates the seasonal presence of microplastics (MPs) in indoor and outdoor urban aerosols in Madrid, Spain, for the first time ever. Compared with the research conducted in the hydrosphere and lithosphere, atmospheric MPs pollution is considered relatively unexplored. To address this gap, PM aerosol samples were collected over one year using the standard EN 12341:2014 method. Two rapid quantification methods based on UV-assisted optical microscopy were used, with and without prior extraction. MPs were characterized morphologically using field-enhanced scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray detection (FE-SEM-EDX) and identified through μRaman spectroscopy and pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PyGC-MS). The hybrid single-particle lagrangian integrated trajectory (HYSPLIT) modelling software was used to link MPs potential sources. The study found that indoor MPs exposure (124 ± 25 particles m/day) were higher than outdoors levels (29 ± 7 particles m/day). Indoors exposure was 88 ± 32 MPs m/day during the warm season (April-September) and 122 ± 14 MPs m/day in the cold season (October-March). Outdoors, exposure was relatively consistent year-round (29 ± 8 and 31 ± 6 particles m/day, warm and cold respectively). MPs composition in indoor samples and outdoor samples during the warm season was similar, mainly polystyrene (45.8 %), polyethylene (22.8 %), polyethylene terephthalate (20.0 %), and polymethylmethacrylate (11.4 %). However, outdoor MPs during the cold season showed notable differences. Fibres dominated over fragments, mostly smaller than 100 μm. The highest fibre-to-fragment ratios occurred in December outdoors (0.76) and February indoors (0.88). Atmospheric back-trajectory analysis indicated that many MPs likely originated from distant, especially oceanic, sources, confirming their long-range transport. Overall, the findings highlight significant indoor MPs exposure, especially in colder months, and suggest a general increase in MPs exposure over time across both environments.
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