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Tier 2
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Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Environmental Sources
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Shape matters: long-range transport of microplastic fibers in the atmosphere
arXiv (Cornell University)2023
2 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 30
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Silvia Bucci,
Taraprasad Bhowmick,
Taraprasad Bhowmick,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Taraprasad Bhowmick,
Daria Tatsii,
Silvia Bucci,
Daria Tatsii,
Silvia Bucci,
Taraprasad Bhowmick,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Silvia Bucci,
Daria Tatsii,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Silvia Bucci,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Daria Tatsii,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
Daria Tatsii,
Silvia Bucci,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Lucie Bakels,
Taraprasad Bhowmick,
Lucie Bakels,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
Taraprasad Bhowmick,
Taraprasad Bhowmick,
Taraprasad Bhowmick,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
Johannes Guettler,
Silvia Bucci,
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
Silvia Bucci,
A. Stohl
Silvia Bucci,
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Johannes Guettler,
Johannes Guettler,
Johannes Guettler,
Johannes Guettler,
Johannes Guettler,
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Lucie Bakels,
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
Lucie Bakels,
Lucie Bakels,
Silvia Bucci,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Silvia Bucci,
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
Gholamhossein Bagheri,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
Silvia Bucci,
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
A. Stohl
Summary
This study modeled the long-range atmospheric transport of microplastic fibers, finding that their elongated non-spherical shape causes them to travel much farther than spherical particles before settling. This helps explain why microplastic fibers are found even in the most remote locations on Earth, far from any plastic pollution source.
Deposition of giant microplastic particles from the atmosphere has been observed in the most remote places on Earth. However, their deposition patterns are difficult to reproduce using current atmospheric transport models. These models usually treat particles as perfect spheres, whereas the real shapes of microplastic particles are often far from spherical. Such particles experience lower settling velocities compared to volume-equivalent spheres, leading to longer atmospheric transport. Here, we present novel laboratory experiments on the gravitational settling of microplastic fibers in air and find that their settling velocities are reduced by up to 76% compared to spheres of the same volume. An atmospheric transport model constrained with the experimental data shows that shape-corrected settling velocities significantly increase the horizontal and vertical transport of particles. Our model results show that microplastic fibers of about 1 mm length emitted in populated areas can reach extremely remote regions of the globe, including the High Arctic, which is not the case for spheres. We also calculate that fibers with lengths of up to 100 μm settle slowly enough to be lifted high into the stratosphere, where degradation by ultraviolet radiation may release chlorine and bromine, thus potentially damaging the stratospheric ozone layer. These findings suggest that the growing environmental burden and still increasing emissions of plastics pose multiple threats to life on Earth.