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 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 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 study examining MP source profiles from plastic burning, road traffic, and agricultural sources, part of the open peer review process for the preprint.

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 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

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

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

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)
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

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-2025-1575

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

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

Examination of the ocean as a source for atmospheric microplastics

Researchers assessed whether the ocean can be a net source of atmospheric microplastics (rather than just a sink), finding evidence that bubble bursting and sea spray can eject plastic particles from ocean surface waters into the atmosphere.

2020 PLoS ONE 444 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review of the Sources, Environmental Behaviours and Human Health of Atmospheric Microplastics

This review examined sources, environmental behaviors, and human health impacts of atmospheric microplastics, distinguishing indoor from outdoor MP exposure and summarizing evidence on how airborne MPs are emitted, transported, transformed, and inhaled.

2023 Johnson Matthey Technology Review 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric microplastic emissions from land and ocean

Researchers quantified atmospheric microplastic emissions from both land and ocean surfaces, finding that re-suspension of deposited plastics from land and sea spray from the ocean are significant sources of airborne particles. The results highlight that the ocean is not just a sink but also a source of airborne microplastics.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) 1 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

Sources and fate of atmospheric microplastics revealed from inverse and dispersion modelling: From global emissions to deposition

Researchers combined atmospheric observations and inverse modeling to estimate global microplastic emissions at 9.6 megatons per year, then used dispersion modeling to trace sources and deposition patterns from emissions to atmospheric fallout worldwide.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 118 citations
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric Microplastics: Inputs and Outputs

Researchers examined how microplastics enter and move through the atmosphere, finding that up to 8.6 megatons per year may be suspended in air above the oceans alone. The particles are launched into the air from ocean spray and land-based sources, then distributed by wind before returning to Earth through rain and dry deposition. The study highlights that atmospheric transport is a major pathway for spreading microplastic contamination to even the most remote regions of the planet.

2025 Preprints.org 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and nanoplastics in the air: a review

This review examines the occurrence, sources, physicochemical characteristics, and sampling and analytical methods for microplastics and nanoplastics in atmospheric air across urban, industrial, coastal, and remote environments. The authors find that fibers and fragments are the dominant atmospheric microplastic forms, that no standardized sampling methods currently exist, and that both passive and active collection approaches are used across the literature with limited comparability.

2025 Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology/Science and Technology
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

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

Microplastics in Atmospheric Pathways, Depositions, and Remediation Techniques

This review examines airborne microplastics -- fibers, fragments, and films between 1 micrometer and 5 mm -- found across the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere, discussing their sources, transport pathways, and remediation technologies. The authors highlight growing global concern about inhalation exposure and assess current and emerging techniques for atmospheric microplastic removal.

2024 1 citations