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'ALL ROADS FLOW TO THE SEA' – capturing road-based plastic pollution using physical and community interventions
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Researchers assessed road-based microplastic pollution using 'Drain Buddies' — custom mesh basket inserts installed in 15 stormwater drains in Queensland, Australia — collecting and analyzing over 1,500 putative plastic particles across eight sampling cycles between 2021 and 2023. They found that roads serve as significant conduits for microplastics including tyre wear particles, paint fragments, and synthetic grass fibers entering aquatic systems.
Roads act as conduits for plastic pollution, especially smaller microplastics (¡ 5 mm), which enter aquatic environments via stormwater drains. Tyre wear significantly adds to road dust, while tyre crumb is increasingly incorporated into products like playground coverings. Road paint and synthetic grass further contribute to this road-associated plastic burden. To assess microplastic waste from road-related activities, customized heavy duty baskets 'Drain Buddies' (with detachable 300 μm mesh net) were installed in stormwater drains at 15 strategic locations in Rockhampton and Livingstoneshire, central Queensland. The selection of sites was a collaborative effort with local councils, focusing on areas near artificial grass, recent roadworks, busy city centers, and industrial zones. Samples were collected during eight emptying cycles between October 2021 and March 2023. Samples were sieved (5 mm, 2 mm, 1 mm, 500 μm) and ¿1,500 putative plastics were visually identified and removed by eye. Smaller samples underwent density separation using ZnCl and digestion using H2O2. Items of interest were photographed, measured, categorized, and individually analyzed using ATR-FTIR for polymer identification. Tyre particles were identified using Pyrolysis-GCMS. Results will be discussed. This study provides insights into the optimal timing, locations, and duration for installing Drain Buddies to minimize road-related plastic pollution in our waterways. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/557725/document
More Papers Like This
'ALL ROADS FLOW TO THE SEA' – capturing road-based plastic pollution using physical and community interventions
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed customized drain basket interventions called 'Drain Buddies' fitted with 300 micron mesh nets to capture road-based microplastics -- including tyre wear particles, road paint, and synthetic grass fibres -- before they enter aquatic environments via stormwater drains.
Microplastics in gully pot sediment in urban areas: Presence, quantities and characteristics
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Researchers analyzed sediment from 29 urban gully pots — the roadside drains that funnel stormwater into sewer pipes — and found concentrations of up to 10,600 microplastic particles per 100g of sediment, with tire wear particles making up roughly a third. The study shows gully pots act as temporary traps for microplastics before they flush into waterways, and that maintaining and cleaning them could reduce the flow of microplastics into rivers and the ocean. This is a practical, infrastructure-based intervention point for cutting urban microplastic pollution.
Is road pavement wear a source of microplastics in stormwater runoff?
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This study investigated whether road pavement wear is a measurable source of microplastics in stormwater runoff, distinct from the better-characterized tire wear contribution. Pavement-derived particles were identified in stormwater samples, confirming that road surface material itself contributes to microplastic loading in urban runoff alongside tire wear and other sources.
Spatial organisation of microplastics in road runoff across an urban network.
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Researchers measured microplastics in rainwater runoff collected from roads across a city. Levels varied widely even between sites close together, and the mix of plastic types differed from place to place, but tiny particles (25 to 50 micrometers) consistently made up most particles found, about 84%.
Experimental study on transport processes of fragment microplastics during urban road rainfall runoff.
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Rainstorms wash tiny plastic fragments off roads and into rivers and streams, and this study found that factors like rain intensity, road slope, and plastic size all affect how much gets carried away—bigger fragments actually resist being flushed away as easily as small ones. The researchers created a new mathematical formula to predict how much plastic pollution washes off roads during storms, which could help cities design better stormwater systems to catch these plastics before they reach waterways that feed our drinking water and food supply (like fish).
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.