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Atmospheric emissions of microplastics entrained with dust from potential source regions
Journal of Hazardous Materials2025
17 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 68
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Steve Allen
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Xi Luo,
Shichang Kang,
Steve Allen
Shichang Kang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Xi Luo,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Xi Luo,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Steve Allen
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Steve Allen
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Yulan Zhang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Shichang Kang,
Yulan Zhang,
Shichang Kang,
Steve Allen
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Steve Allen
Shichang Kang,
Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Xi Luo,
Xi Luo,
Xi Luo,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Tanguang Gao,
Yulan Zhang,
Steve Allen
Rensheng Chen,
Tanguang Gao,
Steve Allen
Xi Luo,
Xi Luo,
Shichang Kang,
Shichang Kang,
Yulan Zhang,
Yulan Zhang,
Tanguang Gao,
Xi Luo,
Steve Allen
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Rensheng Chen,
Yulan Zhang,
Steve Allen
Shichang Kang,
Xi Luo,
Xi Luo,
Xi Luo,
Xi Luo,
Shichang Kang,
Xi Luo,
Steve Allen
Xi Luo,
Tanguang Gao,
Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Xi Luo,
Steve Allen
Tanguang Gao,
Xi Luo,
Tanguang Gao,
Steve Allen
Yulan Zhang,
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Steve Allen
Tanguang Gao,
Tanguang Gao,
Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Summary
A year-long study on the remote Tibetan Plateau found microplastics in the atmosphere year-round, with over 92% of particles smaller than 50 micrometers. The research showed that microplastics get swept up along with dust from distant source regions and can travel long distances through the air, meaning even people in remote areas far from cities are exposed to airborne microplastics.
Atmospheric microplastics play an important role in the microplastic cycle. However, their behaviors in high-altitude remote areas were still poorly constrained. Based on one year of samples from the northeast Tibetan Plateau, we investigated the status of atmospheric microplastics and their relationships with dust. The results indicated that number-based concentrations of atmospheric microplastics were 4.07 ± 2.37 items m with the maximum in spring, while mass-based concentrations were 0.126 ± 0.152 μg m with the maximum in winter. Atmospheric microplastics < 50 μm accounted for 92.9 %, with 95.4 % being fragments, emphasizing the pervasive occurrence of small-sized fragmented microplastics in the northeast Tibetan Plateau. Analysis of Lagrangian particle dispersion model combined with potential source contributions revealed that dust emission in potential source regions significantly impacted atmospheric microplastic concentrations. The threshold shear velocity of microplastics and dust exhibited similar values, supporting their co-emissions from potential source regions. Once microplastics are entrained into the airflow, the lower updraft wind speed required for microplastic suspension facilitates long-range atmospheric transport. This study enhanced our insights into the atmospheric microplastic sources and supported future mitigation strategies for microplastic exposure in the remote ecosystem.