Microplastics – Transition from Ocean Water into the Atmosphere Explained

The abstract of a November 12, 2021 Microplastics and Nanoplastics paper https://microplastics.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43591-021-00018-8 by researchers with Germany University of Bayreuth and Technische Universität Berlin reports that “… Raindrops impacting water surfaces such as lakes or oceans produce myriads of tiny droplets which are ejected into the atmosphere at very high speeds. Here we combine computer simulations and experimental measurements to investigate whether these droplets can serve as transport vehicles for the transition of microplastic particles with diameters of a few tens of μm from ocean water to the atmosphere … We show that these droplets indeed contain microplastic concentrations similar to the ocean water within a few millimeters below the surface … we estimate that, during rainfall, about 4800 microplastic particles transition into the atmosphere per square kilometer per hour for a typical rain rate … and vertical updraft velocity …” #MicroPlastice #PlasticWaste #SingleUsePlastic @TUBerlin @unibt