Potential source contribution function coupled with mass spectrometry detection to identify source of atmospheric polyethylene terephthalate

Source identification of atmospheric microplastics (MPs) is crucial for the development of mitigation policies. Compared with wind directions or backward trajectories of air masses, the potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis identifies more comprehensive sources of atmospheric particles. However, conducting PSCF analysis requires hourly pollutant concentration data, which cannot be met by the atmospheric MPs abundance obtained through commonly used methods. In this study, total suspended particles (TSP) samples were collected hourly and the concentrations of atmospheric polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were detected using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Atmospheric concentrations of PET MPs were 112.9 ± 39.04 ng/m³ (average ± SD). Based on the hourly backward trajectories of air masses and the varied PET concentrations at the sampling site, potential sources of atmospheric PET were identified by PSCF analysis. The backward trajectory-based method indicates that atmospheric PET of the target site in this study primarily originates from dry farmlands. In comparison, both the residential areas and the dry farmlands were identified by PSCF as major sources of atmospheric PET at the receptor site. In contrast, both the backward-trajectory based method and PSCF analysis indicate that TSP mainly originates from the dry farmlands near the sampling site. This indicates that atmospheric PET in urban areas may have different sources from those of TSP, and PSCF is a suitable method for identifying sources of atmospheric PET.