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Atmospheric microplastic transport and deposition to urban and pristine tropical locations in Southeast Asia
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Researchers measured atmospheric microplastic deposition at urban and pristine sites in Malaysia across two monsoon seasons and found microplastics at all locations, including a remote tropical forest. Deposition rates ranged from 114 to 689 particles per square meter per day, with monsoon wind patterns influencing the transport of particles over long distances. The study demonstrates that atmospheric transport is a significant pathway for spreading microplastic contamination to even remote ecosystems in Southeast Asia.
Atmospheric microplastic transport is an important delivery pathway with the deposition of microplastics to ecologically important regions raising environmental concerns. Investigating atmospheric delivery pathways and their deposition rates in different ecosystems is necessary to understanding its global impact. In this study, atmospheric deposition was collected at three sites in Malaysia, two urban and one pristine, covering the Northeast and Southwest monsoons to quantify the role of this pathway in Southeast Asia. Air mass back trajectories showed long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics to all sites with atmospheric deposition varying from 114 to 689 MP/m/day. For the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, monsoonal season influenced microplastic transport and deposition rate with peak microplastic deposition during the Northeast monsoon due to higher wind speed. MP morphology combined with size fractionation and plastic type at the coastal sites indicated a role for long-range marine transport of MPs that subsequently provided a local marine source to the atmosphere at the coastal sites.
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