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Supplementary material to "Wet and dry atmospheric deposition of microplastics at urban, suburban, rural and mountainous sites in Switzerland"
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Swiss researchers set up rain and dust collectors at five sites across Switzerland—from busy Zurich streets to a remote mountaintop—to measure how much microplastic falls from the air we breathe every day. This particular document is just the technical setup details (site locations and descriptions), not the actual results, so we don't yet know how much plastic was found or how city versus rural air compared. Once the full findings come out, they could help clarify how much airborne microplastic people are exposed to no matter where they live, which matters since we're still learning what breathing in these tiny plastic particles might do to our health.
1 S1 Description of sampling sitesThe sampling sites (Table S1), where wet and dry atmospheric deposition samples were collected, belong to Switzerland's National Air Pollution Monitoring Network, which regularly measures air quality in Switzerland (Hueglin et al., 2024).The wet and dry passive samplers were placed at a sufficient distance from surrounding air quality measurement equipment to prevent any interference with natural airflow, ensuring that the entry of atmospheric deposition was not blocked by neighboring equipment.Brief descriptions of the sampling sites based on Empa (2024) are provided below:Zurich.The station is located in the center of Zurich (~500 m west of the main train station) in a park-like courtyard that belongs to an old military complex.In the immediate vicinity is a park, as well as buildings and workshops of the former armory and barracks.The adjacent neighborhood consists mainly of residential buildings as well as small businesses and shops.There are no major roads passing by the station, but traffic in the surrounding neighborhood is quite heavy day and night.Duebendorf.The Duebendorf station is located along the Chriesbach stream in the Glatt Valley between Duebendorf and Wallisellen.In the immediate vicinity, there are several residential buildings, an outdoor volleyball court, and a gravel path used by pedestrians and cyclists.There are several overhead railways lines nearby, with trains passing by regularly.A main road with heavy traffic is located 200 m south of the measurement station.Magadino.Located between the village of Cadenazzo and the Ticino River, the station is located on the grounds of an agricultural research station, with no residential buildings in the immediate vicinity.There are several small industrial businesses in the Magadino plain.A motorway is located approximately 2 km southeast of the station.Payerne.The station is located on the ground of MeteoSwiss, a meteorological station.The sampler was installed on the roof of the building.The station is 1 km southeast of the town of Payerne.The immediate and wider surroundings of Payerne are distinctly rural.The main road runs a few hundred meters southeast of the station.Chaumont.The station is located north of Neuchtel on the Chaumont hill range.The surrounding area is dominated by meadows and pastureland.The nearest industrial plants are 5-10 km away at the foot of Chaumont in the Neuchtel agglomeration.Table S1.Coordinates of the sampling sites where wet and dry deposition were collected between May 2024 and May 2025 for subsequent microplastics quantification.Sampling site Latitude Longitude Elevation (a.s.l.) Zurich 4722'39.3''831'49.5''409 m Duebendorf 4724'17.5''836'30.5''430 m Magadino 4609'37.2''856'02.2''203 m Payerne 4648'47.0''656'40.1''489 m Chaumont 4702'58.1''658'44.9''1136 m
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Wet and dry atmospheric deposition of microplastics at urban, suburban, rural and mountainous sites in Switzerland
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Datasets associated with the manuscript titled "Wet and dry atmospheric deposition of microplastics at urban, suburban, rural and mountainous sites in Switzerland"
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Scientists tracked microplastic pollution falling from the air—both in rain/snow and as dry dust—at city, suburban, rural, and mountain sites across Switzerland over a full year. This matters because it shows that tiny plastic particles aren't just in oceans and soil—they're literally raining down on us everywhere, including remote mountain areas far from cities, meaning we're likely breathing and ingesting these particles no matter where we live. This dataset provides real measurements that researchers can use to better understand how much microplastic exposure people face just from the air around them.
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