Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Data example and code used in the publication "Is transport of microplastics different from that of mineral dust? Results from idealized wind tunnel studies"

This dataset and code repository accompany a wind tunnel study on how microplastic transport by wind compares to mineral dust transport. The study examines whether standard dust transport models can be applied to predict microplastic movement through the atmosphere.

2023
Article Tier 2

Is transport of microplastics different from that of mineral dust? Results from idealized wind tunnel studies

Researchers conducted wind tunnel experiments to examine the detachment and transport behavior of microplastics ranging from 38 to 125 um in diameter from idealized substrates, comparing their aerodynamic behavior to the well-established literature on mineral dust transport. The study identified key differences in microplastic detachment mechanisms relevant to understanding long-range atmospheric dispersal of plastic particles.

2023 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Is plastic dust different from mineral dust? Results from idealized wind tunnel experiments.

Researchers conducted wind tunnel experiments to compare how plastic particles of different sizes detach from flat surfaces in wind compared to mineral dust particles. Plastic particles required higher wind speeds to become airborne than mineral dust of similar size, likely due to shape differences. These findings inform atmospheric transport models for predicting how far and how much microplastic can be carried by wind across the landscape.

2023
Article Tier 2

Is transport of microplastics different from mineral particles? Idealized wind tunnel studies on polyethylene microspheres

Wind tunnel experiments revealed that plastic (polyethylene) microspheres behave differently from mineral dust particles when transported by wind, particularly on hydrophobic surfaces, where plastic particles detach and become airborne more readily. Particle-to-particle collisions were found to both assist and impede detachment. These findings help explain why microplastics are found in remote atmospheric environments and improve models for predicting how far plastic particles can travel through the air from pollution sources.

2023 Atmospheric chemistry and physics 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Vertical concentrations gradients and transport of airborne microplastics in wind tunnel experiments

Wind tunnel experiments tracked how tiny airborne microplastic particles (about half a micrometer in diameter) distribute vertically in moving air, finding conditions under which they can remain suspended and travel long distances. These results help explain how microplastics reach remote environments like mountain peaks and Arctic ice, and contribute to models of human inhalation exposure in urban and rural settings.

2024 Aerosol Research 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric transport dynamics of microplastic fibres

Researchers examined the atmospheric transport dynamics of microplastic fibres within boundary layer flows, comparing their motion to mineral grain transport and finding key differences in behaviour that have important implications for modelling the long-range atmospheric dispersal of microplastics to remote and rural locations.

2025
Article Tier 2

Effects of Shape and Size on Microplastic Atmospheric Settling Velocity

Researchers measured atmospheric settling and horizontal drift velocities of various microplastic shapes and sizes in controlled settling chambers, providing empirical data needed to improve atmospheric transport models that explain how microplastics reach remote environments.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Data and code for the publication "Assessing the Behavior of Microplastics in Fluvial Systems: Infiltration and Retention Dynamics in Streambed Sediments" - Part 2(2)

This is a duplicate of part two of the dataset from flume experiments on microplastic infiltration and retention in streambed sediments. The data supports modeling of microplastic transport in river systems.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Data and code for the publication "Assessing the Behavior of Microplastics in Fluvial Systems: Infiltration and Retention Dynamics in Streambed Sediments" - Part 1(2)

This is a duplicate dataset entry for flume experiments studying microplastic infiltration and retention in streambed sediments. The data supports modeling of microplastic transport in river systems.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric Resuspension of Microplastics from Bare Soil Regions

Researchers developed a method to estimate how microplastics get lifted from bare soil into the atmosphere along with mineral dust, then modeled their global transport and deposition. They found that this soil-based resuspension is a meaningful source of atmospheric microplastics, with fiber-shaped particles traveling significantly farther than spherical ones. The study suggests that dust storms and wind erosion from agricultural and arid lands may be an underappreciated pathway for spreading microplastic contamination worldwide.

2024 Environmental Science & Technology 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Entrainment and horizontal atmospheric transport of microplastics from soil

Researchers investigated the mechanisms by which microplastics become entrained from soil into the atmosphere, finding that wind-driven processes can transport plastic particles horizontally near the ground surface, establishing agricultural soils as a significant source of airborne microplastics.

2023 Chemosphere 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Twist, turn and encounter: the trajectories of small atmospheric particles unravelled

This study used trajectory modeling to trace the movement of small atmospheric particles including microplastics, uncovering complex transport pathways driven by turbulence, wind patterns, and particle size interactions.

2024 arXiv (Cornell University)
Article Tier 2

Experimental investigation of the fallout dynamics of microplastic fragments in wind tunnel: The BURNIA agenda

Wind tunnel experiments were used to measure the settling velocity of airborne microplastic fragments of PET, PVC, and low-density polyethylene, providing the first empirical data to model how plastic particles fall out of the atmosphere.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Data and code for the publication "Assessing the Behavior of Microplastics in Fluvial Systems: Infiltration and Retention Dynamics in Streambed Sediments" - Part 2(2)

This is part two of a dataset from flume experiments studying how microplastics infiltrate and are retained in streambed sediments. The data supports modeling of microplastic transport and deposition in river systems.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
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)
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Physical characteristics of microplastic particles and potential for global atmospheric transport: A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis pools data from multiple studies to examine the physical characteristics of airborne microplastics and how they travel through the atmosphere. The findings confirm that microplastics can be transported globally by wind, meaning people everywhere are breathing in these particles regardless of how far they live from pollution sources.

2023 Environmental Pollution 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic particles resuspensions in bare soils and global atmospheric transport

Researchers estimated global atmospheric transport of microplastics resuspended from bare soils using the FLEXPART dispersion model and FLEXDUST dust emission scheme, simulating transport of spheres and fibers across a range of sizes via Monte Carlo analysis to quantify secondary microplastic sources and their global distribution.

2024
Article Tier 2

Data and code for "Nominally identical microplastic models differ greatly in their particle-cell interactions"

Researchers provide the data and code supporting the study on particle-cell interactions of nominally identical microplastic models, enabling reproducible analysis of how different commercial microplastic preparations produce divergent biological effects at the cellular level.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Vertical concentrations gradients and transport of airborne microplastics in wind tunnel experiments

Researchers used a wind tunnel to study the vertical transport and concentration gradients of airborne polystyrene microplastics (0.51 micrometers diameter) injected at different heights under neutral atmospheric stability conditions. Results showed that maximum particle concentrations shifted toward the surface due to gravitational settling, and flux-gradient similarity analysis revealed the conditions necessary for long-range atmospheric microplastic transport.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Resuspension of microplastic particles from arid regions and global impacts on atmospheric concentrations and deposition

Researchers modeled how microplastics from arid and semi-arid regions are resuspended by wind and transported globally through the atmosphere. The simulations showed that desert regions can be significant secondary sources of airborne microplastic particles, contributing to plastic deposition even in remote ecosystems far from human activity.

2023