Poster Presentation Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Australasia 2023

There's something in the air: A review of sources, prevalence and behaviour of microplastics in the atmosphere (#203)

Stacey O'Brien 1 , Cassandra Rauert 1 , Francisca Ribeiro 1 , Elvis D Okoffo 1 , Stephen D Burrows 1 , Jake W O'Brien 1 , Xianyu Wang 1 , Stephanie L Wright 2 , Kevin V Thomas 1
  1. Queensland Alliance of Environmental Health Science, University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QUEENSLAND, Australia
  2. Environmental Research Group, MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College, South Kensington, London, United Kingdom

Literature regarding microplastics in the atmosphere has advanced in recent years. However, studies have been undertaken in isolation with minimal collaboration and exploration of the relationships between air, deposition and dust. This review collates concentrations (particle count and mass-based), shape, size and polymetric characteristics for microplastics in ambient air (m3), deposition (m2/day), dust (microplastics/g) and snow (microplastics/L) from 124 peer-reviewed articles to provide a holistic overview and analysis of our current knowledge. In summary, ambient air featured concentrations between 1000 microplastics/m3 (outdoor) and 0.05) was observed between indoor and outdoor concentrations or the minimum size of microplastics (p > 0.5). Maximum microplastic sizes were larger indoors (p < 0.05). Deposition concentrations ranged between 0.5 and 1357 microplastics/m2 /day (outdoor) and 475 to 19,600 microplastics/m2 /day (indoor), including polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate. Concentrations varied between indoor and outdoor deposition (p < 0.05), being more abundant indoors, potentially closer to sources/sinks. No difference was observed between the minimum or maximum reported microplastic sizes within indoor and outdoor deposition (p > 0.05).