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Suspended Airborne Microplastics Across Urban Roadside Environments in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines: Compositional Variation and Implications for Urban Air Quality
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Researchers tested the air along busy streets in a Philippine city and found tiny plastic particles—mostly fibers from things like clothing and packaging—floating in every sample they collected, meaning people breathing roadside air are likely inhaling these particles regularly. While this study didn't test health effects directly, it adds to growing evidence that microplastics are a normal part of city air we breathe every day, which matters since scientists are still working out what these particles might do to our lungs and bodies over time.
Atmospheric microplastics are increasingly recognized as emerging contaminants in urban air, yet evidence from Philippine cities outside Metro Manila remains limited. This study provides a preliminary roadside baseline assessment of airborne microplastics in Cagayan de Oro City, southern Philippines. Atmospheric particles were collected from 12 roadside stations distributed across four urban roads, with three stations per road, during a standardized dry-season midday sampling period, and were subsequently subjected to alkaline digestion, microscopic screening, and ATR-FTIR confirmation. Of 99 visually suspected particles, 44 were verified as synthetic polymers and retained in the final dataset. Mean atmospheric microplastic concentrations ranged from 0.0079 to 0.0212 items m−3, with J.R. Borja Street showing the highest concentration and Nazareth Street the lowest. Abundance did not differ significantly among roads, whereas particle shape, color, and polymer composition showed significant differences within the confirmed dataset, while size-class distribution did not. Fibers were the dominant morphology (56.8%), transparent particles were the most common color class (52.3%), and polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate were the predominant polymers. Taken together, the findings confirm the presence of airborne microplastics across roadside environments in Cagayan de Oro City and suggest that, under the sampled conditions, spatial variation was more evident in particle characteristics than in overall abundance. This study contributes an initial polymer-confirmed roadside dataset for a secondary Philippine city and highlights the value of composition-based assessment in urban air quality monitoring.
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Suspended Airborne Microplastics in Urban Roadside Environments of Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines: Abundance, Characteristics, and Polymer Composition
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Researchers collected airborne microplastics from four roadside sites in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines, using respirable dust samplers and ATR-FTIR polymer confirmation, finding polypropylene and PET fibers as dominant forms with concentrations up to 0.0212 items per cubic meter and greater variation in particle characteristics than in overall abundance across sites.
Breathing plastics in Metro Manila, Philippines: Presence of suspended atmospheric microplastics in ambient air
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Researchers detected suspended atmospheric microplastics in ambient air samples from 16 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila, Philippines, confirming that urban air in Southeast Asia contains respirable plastic particles and raising concern about inhalation exposure among dense urban populations.
Size-Resolved Characteristics and Source Influences of Airborne Microplastics in Central Los Angeles
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Researchers measured tiny airborne plastic particles in city air samples collected in central Los Angeles across two seasons. Plastic fibers and small particles were found in every sample, and their levels closely matched levels of dust and traffic-related particles, suggesting shared sources like road dust and vehicle wear rather than weather conditions.
Atmospheric Microplastic Particulate Matter in an Urban Roadside: Case of Bandar Lampung City, Indonesia
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Researchers sampled airborne microplastics at four locations across Bandar Lampung City, Indonesia, including industrial zones, residential neighborhoods, busy roads, and the city center. They found microplastic concentrations ranging from 0.002 to 0.02 particles per cubic meter of air, with fibrous shapes and PET plastic most common. Industrial areas had the highest total particulate levels, and northern parts of the city appear to be a likely source of airborne microplastics carried by traffic. This study adds to growing evidence that city dwellers are breathing in microplastics simply from the air around them.
Atmospheric Microplastic Particulate in Urban Roadside: Case of Bandar Lampung City, Indonesia
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Researchers measured airborne microplastics in Bandar Lampung City, Indonesia, finding fibrous particles — mostly PET — present at all sampling locations including residential areas and city centers, not just industrial zones. The detection of microplastics in the ambient air at meaningful concentrations adds to the growing body of evidence that people in urban environments are continuously inhaling microplastic fibers, regardless of proximity to obvious industrial sources.
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