Reply to the Comment by T. Burghardt ‘Microplastic Emissions and Polymer Contents Are Not the Same: Regarding a Confusion in Tatsii et al. “Do Microplastics Contribute to the Total Number Concentration of Ice Nucleating Particles?”’

Abstract This reply addresses the comment by T. Burghardt, ‘Microplastic emissions and polymer contents are not the same: regarding a confusion in Tatsii et al. “Do Microplastics Contribute to the Total Number Concentration of Ice Nucleating Particles?’”, on the paper by Tatsii et al. (2025), https://doi.org/10.1029/2024jd042827 . The original study quantified road traffic‐related microplastic number concentrations and estimated their contribution to total ice nucleating particle concentrations using an atmospheric transport model. In this reply, we clarify raised concerns related to the estimation of microplastic emissions from road markings and polymer‐modified bitumen. We further elaborate on the methodology and objectives of our study to resolve the identified misunderstanding. The main conclusion is that applying the emission constraints for road markings and polymer‐modified bitumen proposed by T. Burghardt, values that are one order of magnitude lower than those used in the original study, has a negligible impact on the reported results, as these sources represent a relatively small fraction of the total emissions.