Atmospheric fallout as a source of microplastics

Session: Poster session

Brett Roblin, Trent University , [email protected]
Julian Aherne, Trent University, [email protected]

Abstract

The global annual production of plastics has been increasing since 1950, with more than 300 million megatons produced in 2014. In the environment, waste plastics, more specifically particles smaller than 5 mm called microplastics, have been found throughout marine, freshwater and terrestrial systems. There is growing concern of their environmental impacts especially given that they can absorb a wide range of organic pollutants. While our understanding of the sources and transport mechanisms of microplastics has increased during the last decade, few studies have focused on atmospheric deposition as a source of microplastics. In this study, daily rainfall samples were collected from four remote monitoring stations and bulked into monthly samples from June to December 2017. Monthly samples were vacuum filtered on GF/C Whatman filters and all microplastics were counted and measured using a steromicroscope. A subsample of the microplastics were further analyzed using raman spectroscopy to identify the type of plastics. The annual deposition of microplastics at each station was estimated from the monthly rainfall volume and microplastic count. The result suggests that atmospheric fallout can transport microplastics away from urban centers into remote locations.

1. Keyword
microplastics

2. Keyword
pollution sources

4. Additional Keyword
Atmospheric Fallout

5. Additional Keyword
Rainfall