Various Perspectives on Occurrence, Sources, Measurement Techniques, Transport, and Insights Into Future Scope for Research of Atmospheric Microplastics

Microplastics in the environment have been recognized as emerging contaminants due to rising concerns over their significant adverse effects on humans, animals, aquatic life, and many other ecosystems. The detection and occurrence of microplastics are reported in all mediums of the environment including water, air, and soil components. Although their presence and associated implications in the water and soil have been studied substantially, comparatively less studies have been conducted on atmospheric or airborne microplastics. In recent years, it has been observed that microplastics occur in all matrices of the atmosphere such as urban, suburban, and rural, and even in remote areas at long distances from the source regions. The presence of atmospheric microplastics in remote regions indicate their potential to undergo long-range transport after emission from their source. This chapter has synthesized knowledge-based information from recent studies conducted on various aspects of atmospheric microplastics in a systematic manner. The synthesis of knowledge includes classification, properties, occurrence, responsible emission, sampling techniques, quantification, factors affecting concentration, transport after emitted from sources, prediction of fate, and control technology of atmospheric microplastics. The challenges on various aspects from climate change to future research are addressed. The results from previous studies revealed that microplastics are present at different concentrations in all parts of the atmospheric ecosystems that include indoor and outdoor settled dust, and street or road dust. The influencing parameters for concentrations of microplastics in the air medium are lifestyle choices of communities, other man-made activities, and meteorological factors. The forms of microplastics have been identified as spherules, films, fragments, fibers, and granules, with fibers and fragments the major categories. The reported studies revealed around 20 different polymers responsible for emission of microplastics, with varying color compositions and particle sizes of <1mm.