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Characteristics of microplastics in the atmosphere of Anyang City
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Researchers measured airborne microplastics in Anyang City, China, and found that concentrations increased significantly as air quality worsened, reaching an average of 0.42 particles per cubic meter during heavily polluted days. About 80% of the particles were black fiber strips, mainly made of cellophane, PET, and EVA. The study estimates that on high-pollution days, adults breathe in an average of 222 microplastic particles daily, highlighting the respiratory health risk from airborne microplastics in polluted cities.
In order to clarify the characteristics of microplastics in the atmosphere of Anyang city, TSP, PM, and PM samples are collected when the ambient air quality is good, slightly polluted, and severely polluted. After pretreatment, the physical and chemical characteristics are observed and identified by using stereomicroscope and micro-infrared spectrometer. The results show that the average abundance of microplastics is 0.19 items/m, 0.26 items/m, and 0.42 items/m, respectively, when the ambient air quality is good, light pollution, and heavy pollution in Anyang City. It can be seen that with the decline of ambient air quality, the average abundance of microplastics in TSP, PM, and PM gradually increases. The black fiber strip microplastics account for about 80% of the total TSP, PM, and PM in the ambient air of Anyang City, followed by yellow flake and black granular microplastics and a small amount of green, red, and blue fiber strip microplastics. AQI has a good correlation with the abundance of microplastics in TSP, PM, and PM, and the maximum microplastic trapping effect could be obtained according to the sampling method of PM in the ambient air. The main components of microplastics are cellophane, followed by PET and EVA. The explorations of human respiratory exposure risk assessment show that with the increase of AQI, the daily intake of microplastics in adults also increased. At high levels of pollution, the human body breathes an average of 222 ± 5 microplastics per day.
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