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Shielded collectors improve the capture of atmospheric microplastic deposition
Summary
Researchers compared shielded and unshielded atmospheric microplastic collectors across multiple sites and found that shielded designs captured significantly more particles, with dry deposition accounting for up to 60% of bulk deposition, underscoring how collector design can substantially skew estimates of microplastic atmospheric flux and ecosystem budgets.
/day in unshielded collectors, underscoring the potential influence of wind on catch efficiency. Further, dry deposition dominated over wet, representing up to 60 ± 19% of bulk deposition in the shielded collector at one of our study sites. These results suggest that collector design may have a substantial effect on deposition estimates, which could have implications for estimates of microplastic budgets, retention in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and our ability to constrain the atmospheric limb of the plastic cycle. These results not only highlight the need to harmonize atmospheric sampling methods but also the need to standardize the use of shielded collectors.