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Assessment of Microplastics in Roadside Suspended Dust from Urban and Rural Environment of Nagpur, India
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Researchers measured microplastics in roadside dust in both urban and rural areas of Nagpur, India, finding plastic particles in both coarse and fine breathable particulates — meaning people in Indian cities may regularly inhale microplastics simply by being near roads.
Contamination from microplastics is a growing concern around the globe that materialized over the last few decades. Road dust is one of the main contributors of microplastics in an urban environment and presence of microplastics can be a major detriment to health of urban population. The present study focuses on the presence, quantification, and identification of microplastics in the ambient air. Coarse (PM10) and fine (PM2.5) particulates from urban and rural sites of Nagpur, India is collected using high volume air samplers for weekdays and weekends for a period of 24 h. Samples are collected in Polytetrafluoroethylene filter papers and are analyzed using a stereomicroscope, fluorescence microscopic study, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Fluorescence microscopy is conducted using Nile Red staining for analyzing the presence of microplastics and studying its shapes and colors. An average total abundance ranging from 50 to 120 particles/day is observed. Fibers are the dominant shape, and transparent/white is the dominant color observed in all four sites. FTIR analysis is conducted for identification of the chemical composition of particles in Attenuated Reflectance mode. The polymers identified in the region are low-density polyethylene, rayon, rubber fiber, polystyrene, polyaniline, polyolefin, and chlorinated polyvinyl chloride. This research identified significant contamination of the study region from microplastics and highlights the necessity of performing a comprehensive health risk analysis of the study region to examine the impact of microplastics on urban health.
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Researchers measured microplastic concentrations in outdoor air, confirming that these tiny plastic particles are airborne pollutants present in open environments in significant quantities. This finding suggests that humans may inhale microplastics on a routine basis, adding atmospheric exposure to the dietary routes already documented in food and water.
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