Atmospheric deposition of microplastics in a rural region of North China Plain

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Electronic versions

Documents

DOI

  • Jingjing Li
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Jinrui Zhang
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Siyang Ren
    College of Resources and Environmental Sciences; National Academy of Agriculture Green Development; Key Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.Beijing Key Laboratory of Farmland Soil Pollution Prevention and RemediationResearch and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei ChinaPR China
  • Daqi Huang
    Beihang University, Beijing
  • Fobang Liu
    Xi'an Jiaotong‐Liverpool University
  • Zhen Li
    Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing
  • Hanyue Zhang
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Mingyu Zhao
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Yuxuan Cao
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Samson Mofolo
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Jiexi Liang
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Wen Xu
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Davey L Jones
  • David R Chadwick
  • Xuejun Liu
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
  • Kai Wang
    Research and Development Department, Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co. Ltd Tongling China,College of Resources and Environment Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China

Microplastics (MPs) pollution is becoming one of the most pressing environmental issues globally. MPs in the marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments have been fairly well investigated. However, knowledge of the atmospheric-mediated deposition of MPs within rural environments is limited. Here, we present the results of bulk (dry and wet) atmospheric MPs deposition in a rural region of Quzhou County in the North China Plain (NCP). Samples of MPs in the atmospheric bulk deposition were collected for individual rainfall events over a 12-month period from August 2020 to August 2021. The number and size of MPs from 35 rainfall samples were measured by fluorescence microscopy, while the chemical composition of MPs was identified using micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (μ-FTIR). The results showed that the atmospheric MPs deposition rate in summer (892-75,421 particles/m2/day) was highest compared to 735-9428, 280-4244 and 86-1347 particles/m2/day in spring, autumn, and winter, respectively. Furthermore, the MPs deposition rates in our study were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than those in other regions, indicating a higher rate of MPs deposition in the rural region of the NCP. MPs with a diameter of 3-50 μm accounted for 75.6 %, 78.4 %, 73.4 % and 66.1 % of total MPs deposition in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively, showing that the majority of MPs in the current study were small in size. Rayon fibers accounted for the largest proportion (32 %) of all MPs, followed by polyethylene terephthalate (12 %) and polyethylene (8 %). This study also found that a significant positive correlation between rainfall volume and MPs deposition rate. In addition, HYSPLIT back-trajectory modelling showed that the farthest source of deposition MPs may have come from Russia.

Original languageEnglish
Article number162947
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume877
Early online date24 Mar 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2023

Total downloads

No data available
View graph of relations