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Microplastics are raining down from the sky

TheScienceBreaker 2021 3 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Janice Brahney

Summary

Researchers linked microplastic fallout rates in precipitation to atmospheric air mass movements, finding that wind and rain transport microplastics from urban and agricultural source regions to remote locations. The study demonstrated that microplastics are now cycling through the atmosphere much like natural aerosols.

Microplastic waste has become so prevalent in the environment that it is being picked up and transported by the wind and the rain. We linked plastic fallout rates with air-mass movements to understand where plastics are coming from, how far they are travelling, and how much of them is raining out of the sky. - submission by Janice Brahney

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