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Atmospheric transport of microplastics from land to sea is inefficient: Evidence from multimedia observations
Summary
Researchers used multimedia observations from both land and sea to quantify the transport efficiency of atmospheric microplastics from land to ocean, finding that atmospheric transport is an inefficient pathway for delivering land-sourced microplastics to marine environments compared to other transport routes.
Microplastics have been recognized as a global marine environmental issue, but their sources, particularly the contribution of atmospheric transport, remain obscure. Here, we determine the transport efficiency of atmospheric microplastics (AMPs) from land to sea using multimedia observations from both sea and land in the South China Sea in conjunction with atmospheric trajectory modelling. Furthermore, we extrapolate AMP inputs to the ocean at a global scale. The results show that only 1.8 % of AMPs are transported and deposited into the sea, with most remaining on land. The global mass of AMPs entering the sea is 262.98 t, which is much less than the river exports. Therefore, we conclude that the atmospheric transport is not the main pathway for land-sourced microplastics to enter the sea, and suggest that the foremost step of curbing the worsening of marine MP pollution is to control the inflow of riverine MPs into the sea.