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This study examined the settling behavior of commercially available microplastic particles in the atmosphere, focusing on how physical properties such as size and shape influence transport and deposition, with implications for understanding the atmospheric dispersion of microplastics. The work responds to prior commentary by providing additional experimental data relevant to modeling large microplastic settling dynamics.
Abstract. The atmosphere plays a major role in the dispersion of microplastics in the environment. The atmospheric transport of large microplastics is strongly influenced by their settling behavior, which depends on their physical properties, including size and shape. However, experimental data on the settling behavior of commercially available microplastics with complex, nonspherical shapes in air are rare. Here we present experiments on the gravitational settling velocity of commercially available glitters (nominal diameters between 0.1 and 3 mm) and fibers (lengths between 1.2 and 5 mm). We observed that glitters and fibers settle up to 74 % and 78 % slower compared to volume-equivalent spheres, respectively. The atmospheric transport of fibers has been studied previously; however, there are no studies on the atmospheric transport potential of glitters. Therefore, we used an atmospheric transport model constrained by our experimental results to assess the transport potential of glitters. Our results reveal that glitters exhibit transport distances 12–261 % greater than volume-equivalent spheres, highlighting their elevated atmospheric transport potential. As a result, the environmental impact of glitter particles, especially following their use in entertainment events, warrants attention and mitigation.
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Comment on egusphere-2025-605
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers examined the atmospheric transport of microplastics, focusing on how their settling behavior — determined by physical properties including size and shape — governs the dispersion of large microplastic particles through the atmosphere and their deposition across environments.
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AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers measured the gravitational settling velocities of commercially available glitter particles and synthetic fibres in air to better characterise atmospheric microplastic transport. They found glitters and fibres settled up to 74% and 78% slower than volume-equivalent spheres, respectively, indicating that non-spherical shapes substantially extend atmospheric residence times.
Effects of Shape and Size on Microplastic Atmospheric Settling Velocity
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Researchers measured atmospheric settling and horizontal drift velocities of various microplastic shapes and sizes in controlled settling chambers, providing empirical data needed to improve atmospheric transport models that explain how microplastics reach remote environments.
Reply on RC2
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers investigated the atmospheric settling behaviour of non-spherical microplastics, including glitters and fibres with nominal diameters and lengths ranging from 0.1 to 5 mm, to improve transport model accuracy. Experimental data showed settling velocities up to 78% lower than spherical equivalents, underscoring the need to account for particle morphology in atmospheric dispersion models.
The atmospheric settling of commercially sold microplastics
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Researchers measured the gravitational settling velocities of commercially available glitter microplastics (0.1-3 mm nominal diameter) and synthetic fibers (1.2-5 mm length) in air, finding that non-spherical shapes cause complex settling behaviors that deviate substantially from spherical particle models used in atmospheric transport models.
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