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Atmospheric transport is a major pathway of microplastics to remote regions

Author

Listed:
  • N. Evangeliou

    (Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU))

  • H. Grythe

    (Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU))

  • Z. Klimont

    (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA))

  • C. Heyes

    (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA))

  • S. Eckhardt

    (Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU))

  • S. Lopez-Aparicio

    (Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU))

  • A. Stohl

    (Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU)
    University of Vienna)

Abstract

In recent years, marine, freshwater and terrestrial pollution with microplastics has been discussed extensively, whereas atmospheric microplastic transport has been largely overlooked. Here, we present global simulations of atmospheric transport of microplastic particles produced by road traffic (TWPs – tire wear particles and BWPs – brake wear particles), a major source that can be quantified relatively well. We find a high transport efficiencies of these particles to remote regions. About 34% of the emitted coarse TWPs and 30% of the emitted coarse BWPs (100 kt yr−1 and 40 kt yr−1 respectively) were deposited in the World Ocean. These amounts are of similar magnitude as the total estimated direct and riverine transport of TWPs and fibres to the ocean (64 kt yr−1). We suggest that the Arctic may be a particularly sensitive receptor region, where the light-absorbing properties of TWPs and BWPs may also cause accelerated warming and melting of the cryosphere.

Suggested Citation

  • N. Evangeliou & H. Grythe & Z. Klimont & C. Heyes & S. Eckhardt & S. Lopez-Aparicio & A. Stohl, 2020. "Atmospheric transport is a major pathway of microplastics to remote regions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17201-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17201-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Höök, Mikael & Tang, Xu, 2013. "Depletion of fossil fuels and anthropogenic climate change—A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 797-809.
    2. Marcus Haward, 2018. "Plastic pollution of the world’s seas and oceans as a contemporary challenge in ocean governance," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-3, December.
    3. Graham Simpkins, 2017. "Progress in climate modelling," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 7(10), pages 684-685, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Angelica Bianco & Monica Passananti, 2020. "Atmospheric Micro and Nanoplastics: An Enormous Microscopic Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Zexi Shen & Qiang Zhang & Vijay P. Singh & Yadu Pokhrel & Jianping Li & Chong-Yu Xu & Wenhuan Wu, 2022. "Drying in the low-latitude Atlantic Ocean contributed to terrestrial water storage depletion across Eurasia," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Brian Charles Barr & Hrund Ólöf Andradóttir & Throstur Thorsteinsson & Sigurður Erlingsson, 2021. "Mitigation of Suspendable Road Dust in a Subpolar, Oceanic Climate," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Hlynur Stefánsson & Mark Peternell & Matthias Konrad-Schmolke & Hrafnhildur Hannesdóttir & Einar Jón Ásbjörnsson & Erik Sturkell, 2021. "Microplastics in Glaciers: First Results from the Vatnajökull Ice Cap," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-11, April.
    5. Yanjun Meng & Kun Wang & Yuanyuan Lin, 2021. "The Role of Land Use Transition on Industrial Pollution Reduction in the Context of Innovation-Driven: The Case of 30 Provinces in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Isabel Goßmann & Dorte Herzke & Andreas Held & Janina Schulz & Vladimir Nikiforov & Christoph Georgi & Nikolaos Evangeliou & Sabine Eckhardt & Gunnar Gerdts & Oliver Wurl & Barbara M. Scholz-Böttcher, 2023. "Occurrence and backtracking of microplastic mass loads including tire wear particles in northern Atlantic air," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Yu-Rong Liu & Marcel G. A. Heijden & Judith Riedo & Carlos Sanz-Lazaro & David J. Eldridge & Felipe Bastida & Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez & Xin-Quan Zhou & Hang-Wei Hu & Ji-Zheng He & José L. Moreno & Seba, 2023. "Soil contamination in nearby natural areas mirrors that in urban greenspaces worldwide," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    8. Binbin Chang & Lei Chen, 2021. "Land Economic Efficiency and Improvement of Environmental Pollution in the Process of Sustainable Urbanization: Case of Eastern China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-23, August.
    9. Andrew J Tanentzap & Samuel Cottingham & Jérémy Fonvielle & Isobel Riley & Lucy M Walker & Samuel G Woodman & Danai Kontou & Christian M Pichler & Erwin Reisner & Laurent Lebreton, 2021. "Microplastics and anthropogenic fibre concentrations in lakes reflect surrounding land use," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(9), pages 1-18, September.

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