Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2025-1821

This is a peer review comment on an atmospheric microplastics preprint characterizing source profiles and emission factors from plastic burning, road traffic, and agricultural sources, contributing to the open review process for improving the study.

2025
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2025-1821

This is a peer review comment on an atmospheric microplastics preprint examining source profiles and emission factors for plastic-derived particles from various pollution sources, contributing to the open review process for the manuscript.

2025
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2025-1821

This peer review comment on an atmospheric microplastics study characterizes source profiles and emission factors for eight polymer types and three plasticizer classes from plastic burning, fruit bag burning, road traffic, agricultural film, and livestock breeding sources.

2025
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2025-1821

This is a peer review comment on an atmospheric microplastics preprint studying MP emission sources, contributing to the open peer review process for the study.

2025
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2025-1821

This comment discusses a study characterizing source profiles for atmospheric microplastics, including particles from plastic burning, fruit waste degradation, and other common sources, offering guidance for distinguishing emission sources in ambient air monitoring.

2025
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2023-1025

This comment discusses a study on atmospheric transport of microplastic particulate matter, noting that long-range atmospheric dispersal means microplastics reach virtually every environment on Earth, including remote areas far from human settlements. Understanding atmospheric transport mechanisms is key to modeling global microplastic deposition.

2023
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2023-1025

This comment paper examines the atmospheric transport of microplastics as particulate matter, comparing it to the well-studied transport of mineral dust. Understanding how air currents carry microplastics to remote environments helps explain their ubiquitous presence even in pristine ecosystems far from human activity.

2023
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric Microplastic Transport

This review examines atmospheric transport of microplastics, covering emission sources including roads and oceans, the meteorological and particle-characteristic factors influencing transport and deposition, and the cycles by which microplastics are redistributed to remote environments including high-altitude and polar regions.

2023 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2023-1025

This comment discusses a study on atmospheric transport of microplastics, noting that the mechanisms that move microplastics through the air differ importantly from those for mineral dust. Better understanding these transport pathways is essential for accurately predicting where airborne microplastics deposit globally.

2023
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2025-1575

Researchers developed a representation of airborne microplastics within the UK Earth System Model (UKESM1.1), adding both fragment and fibre types across multiple aerosol size modes that interact with existing deposition and ageing processes. Simulated microplastics showed higher concentrations over land but were transported to remote regions including Antarctica, highlighting their potential air quality and climate relevance.

2025
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2025-605

Researchers examined the atmospheric transport of microplastics, focusing on how their settling behavior — determined by physical properties including size and shape — governs the dispersion of large microplastic particles through the atmosphere and their deposition across environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Insight into the size-resolved markers and eco-health significance of microplastics from typical sources in northwest China

Researchers characterized atmospheric microplastics emitted from five source types — plastic burning, fruit bag burning, road traffic, agricultural film, and livestock breeding — in northwest China's Guanzhong Plain, finding distinct polymer and plasticizer profiles for each source. Plastic burning produced the highest diversity of polymer types, providing source-specific fingerprints useful for pollution management.

2025
Article Tier 2

Constraining the atmospheric limb of the plastic cycle

Researchers modeled the atmospheric transport of microplastics across the western United States and found that most airborne particles originate from the breakdown of legacy plastic waste that has accumulated in the environment. Roads were identified as the dominant source, followed by marine, agricultural, and dust emissions near population centers. The study suggests that atmospheric microplastic transport represents a significant and underappreciated component of the global plastic pollution cycle.

2021 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 528 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Atmosphere: A Global Perspective

This global modeling study found that atmospheric microplastic sources are dominated by land-based transport rather than ocean emissions, challenging earlier assumptions and suggesting that road traffic and other terrestrial activities are the primary drivers of microplastic particle distribution in the atmosphere.

2023 Research Square (Research Square) 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Insight into the size-resolved markers and eco-health significance of microplastics from typical sources in northwest China

Researchers characterized airborne microplastics and plasticizers emitted from five common sources in northwest China—plastic burning, fruit bag burning, road traffic, agricultural film, and livestock breeding—finding source-specific polymer and chemical profiles in PM2.5 and PM10 fractions.

2025 Atmospheric chemistry and physics
Article Tier 2

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

This review synthesized current knowledge on atmospheric microplastics, covering their sources, occurrence across global regions, measurement techniques, and transport mechanisms, while identifying key research gaps for future investigation.

2023 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Comment on egusphere-2025-1575

This review examines a global climate model implementation of airborne microplastics as an atmospheric aerosol species, addressing their absence from current climate models despite recognized air quality and climate impacts. The comment evaluates the modeling approach for representing microplastic transport, deposition, and radiative effects in the atmosphere.

2025
Article Tier 2

Reply on RC5

Researchers characterized microplastic source profiles and plasticizer emissions (phthalates, benzothiazoles, bisphenol A) from five pollution sources (plastic burning, traffic, agricultural film, livestock) in PM2.5 and PM10 aerosols across the Guanzhong Plain in northern China, providing source-resolved atmospheric microplastic data.

2025
Article Tier 2

Deposition of Roadside Atmospheric Non-Tire Wear Microplastics: Characteristics and Influencing Factors

A year-long roadside study measured the atmospheric deposition of microplastics in two size fractions, finding deposition rates of 3–9 million particles per hectare per month for larger particles and identifying polymers including PP, PE, PS, PVC, PET, and nylon. Traffic was the dominant source of larger particles near the road, while wind patterns dispersed smaller particles more broadly from industrial sources. Roads are a major but underappreciated source of airborne microplastic deposition into surrounding soils and waterways, and this study quantifies that contribution with new precision.

2026 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Global emission, atmospheric transport and deposition trends of microplastics originating from road traffic

This modeling study estimated global emissions, atmospheric transport, and deposition of microplastics from road traffic sources, finding that road-derived microplastics are transported long distances by wind and deposited in remote locations including the Arctic. The findings quantify roads as a globally important source of atmospheric microplastic pollution.

2021 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The Peril of Plastics: Atmospheric Microplastics in Outdoor, Indoor, and Remote Environments

This review surveys the current state of knowledge about microplastics suspended in the atmosphere, covering outdoor, indoor, and remote environments. Researchers found that airborne microplastics are far more widespread than previously recognized, with fibers from textiles and vehicle tire wear being major sources. The study highlights that atmospheric transport can carry microplastics to even the most remote locations on Earth, and that inhaling these particles poses potential health concerns.

2024 Sustainable Chemistry 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic in the Air

This review provides a comprehensive overview of methods for collecting, extracting, and identifying airborne microplastics, examining their sources, transport mechanisms, and persistence in urban and atmospheric environments, and establishing a methodological foundation for future research on microplastic air pollution.

2025
Article Tier 2

A Review of Atmospheric Micro/Nanoplastics: Insights into Source and Fate for Modelling Studies

This review synthesizes current knowledge about how micro- and nanoplastics move through the atmosphere, covering their sources, transport mechanisms, and eventual deposition. Researchers found that atmospheric transport can carry these particles over long distances quickly, making it a major pathway for global plastic pollution spread. The study identifies key knowledge gaps needed for developing accurate models of airborne microplastic behavior.

2025 Current Pollution Reports 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric microplastic emissions from land and ocean

Researchers compiled a comprehensive atmospheric microplastic dataset and derived top-down and bottom-up emission estimates for particles in the 5-100 micrometer size range from both land and ocean sources, providing gridded emissions data in multiple formats for use in atmospheric transport modelling.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)