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Airborne microplastics in urban, rural and wildland environments on the Tibetan Plateau
Journal of Hazardous Materials2023
62 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 55
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Zhonglu Liao,
Dehua Luo,
Dehua Luo,
Dehua Luo,
Dehua Luo,
Xu Shang
Xiaoliang Ji,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Xiaoliang Ji,
Dehua Luo,
Dehua Luo,
Zhonglu Liao,
Dehua Luo,
Dehua Luo,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zheng Chen,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Xiaoliang Ji,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Liyin Qu,
Xu Shang
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Dehua Luo,
Dehua Luo,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Xiaoliang Ji,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zheng Chen,
Zheng Chen,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zhonglu Liao,
Dehua Luo,
Dehua Luo,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zheng Chen,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Zheng Chen,
Gang Chen,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Xiaoliang Ji,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zheng Chen,
Liyin Qu,
Xiaoliang Ji,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhonglu Liao,
Zhonglu Liao,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Zhonggen Wang,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Yan‐Fang Sang,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Xiaoliang Ji,
Xiaoliang Ji,
Zheng Chen,
Zhenfeng Wang,
Liyin Qu,
Zheng Chen,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Zheng Chen,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Minghua Zhang,
Minghua Zhang,
Minghua Zhang,
Zheng Chen,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Zheng Chen,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Minghua Zhang,
Xu Shang
Xu Shang
Minghua Zhang,
Minghua Zhang,
Xu Shang
Zheng Chen,
Zhonggen Wang,
Xu Shang
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Yan‐Fang Sang,
Xu Shang
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Minghua Zhang,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Minghua Zhang,
Minghua Zhang,
Xu Shang
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Randy A. Dahlgren,
Xu Shang
Xu Shang
Xu Shang
Xu Shang
Summary
Researchers measured airborne microplastic concentrations across urban, rural, and remote wildland sites on the Tibetan Plateau and found microplastics present at all locations, even in pristine high-altitude environments. Urban areas had the highest concentrations, but the presence of microplastics in remote wilderness areas demonstrates long-range atmospheric transport. The study provides some of the first data on airborne microplastic pollution in one of the world's most isolated high-mountain regions.
The concentration of airborne microplastics is largely unknown in the remote high mountain area of the Tibetan Plateau. Here we report airborne microplastic concentrations of 2.5-58.8 n/m in urban, rural and wildland areas across the Tibetan Plateau, with smaller (∼89% <100 µm) fragments (>80%) dominating. Polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polyamide and polystyrene were the dominant polymers of airborne microplastics on the Tibetan Plateau. Distribution of airborne microplastics was positively correlated with anthropogenic activity indices, such as population density and nighttime light intensity. Although the contribution of long-range atmospheric transport is valid, dispersed villages also appear to be a source of airborne microplastics for wildland areas across the Tibetan Plateau.