Results of a new study recently showed that roads and the vehicles that use them are accountable for 84 percent of microplastics that exist in the atmosphere.
A Mail Online report said, researchers from Utah State University investigated different sources of atmospheric microplastic pollution discovered in the western United States over a 14-month period.
Researchers cautioned these tiny pieces of plastic pollution are described to be very pervasive in that they impact the manner plants are growing, waft through the air humans breathe, penetrate oceans, are found in the guts of insects in Antarctica, and even in the human bloodstream.
Specifically, the US team discovered that 84 percent of microplastics in the atmosphere originated from road dust, primarily tires, 11 percent from sea spray, and five percent from soil from agriculture.
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About eight million metric tons of plastics are thrown into the ocean every year, according to studies published in scientific journals - by 2050; it is estimated that the weight of plastics in the oceans will exceed the weight of all marine life, and microplastics are already being ingested by fish and starting to appear in the human food chain.
Major Atmospheric Microplastic Sources Examined
Together with their colleagues, Janice Brahney and Nataly Mahowald examined major atmospheric microplastic sources and the areas where it is concentrated.
As a result, they discovered that microplastics coming from land on the ocean's surface, as well as plastic from the ocean on land, suggest that they're spreading through the atmosphere.
The study entitled, Constraining the atmospheric limb of the plastic cycle, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal specified that hotspots for earthly microplastic sources and accumulation comprised the US, Europe, the Middle East, India, and Eastern Asia.
In general, the atmospheric microplastics' greatest concentration was approximated to be above the ocean. Depending on the size, microplastics stayed in the atmosphere from roughly one hour to six-and-a-half days, the latter-mentioned duration long enough to take them to another location.
Ability to Reenter the Atmosphere
As specified in the report, even Antarctica, the most remote continent on this planet, received microplastic pollution from the atmosphere, despite being characterized by having zero emissions of microplastics.
The research findings, a similar report from The Washington Time specified, propose that even after atmospheric microplastics settle on land or in water, they may potentially reenter the atmosphere.
Understanding the manner microplastics are moving through global systems is vital to addressing the problem, Brahney said.
The research team also said plastics are entering the atmosphere, not directly from garbage cans or landfills as everyone might expect, although from old, broken-down waste, making its way into extensive atmospheric patterns.
Major Sources of Atmospheric Plastics
Roads are a major source of atmospheric plastics, where vehicle tires are churning and launching skyward and microscopic pieces through strong vehicle-associated turbulence.
In addition, ocean waves are also full of insoluble plastic particles that used to be soda bottles, food wrappers plastic bags.
These so-called 'legacy plastic' particles are bobbing to the top layer of water, not to mention, are churned by wind and waves and propelled into the air.
Dust and agriculture sources for airborne plastics, according to The Guardian, are factoring more prominently in northern Africa, as well as in Eurasia, while rode-generated sources had a huge effect in heavily populated regions globally.
Brahney said this research is essential, although it is only the beginning. Much work, she said, is needed on this pressing problem to understand the manner different environments might be influencing the process, wet climates against dry ones, mountainous regions against flatlands.
Related report is shown on MBARI's YouTube video below:
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