Version 1
: Received: 3 September 2024 / Approved: 4 September 2024 / Online: 4 September 2024 (16:10:18 CEST)
How to cite:
Logvina, Y.; Moreira, D. S.; Santos, R. P.; Neves, I. F.; Ribeiro, H.; Pinto da Silva, L.; Silva, J. E. D. Microplastic Aerosol Contamination in Porto (Portugal). Preprints2024, 2024090356. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0356.v1
Logvina, Y.; Moreira, D. S.; Santos, R. P.; Neves, I. F.; Ribeiro, H.; Pinto da Silva, L.; Silva, J. E. D. Microplastic Aerosol Contamination in Porto (Portugal). Preprints 2024, 2024090356. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0356.v1
Logvina, Y.; Moreira, D. S.; Santos, R. P.; Neves, I. F.; Ribeiro, H.; Pinto da Silva, L.; Silva, J. E. D. Microplastic Aerosol Contamination in Porto (Portugal). Preprints2024, 2024090356. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0356.v1
APA Style
Logvina, Y., Moreira, D. S., Santos, R. P., Neves, I. F., Ribeiro, H., Pinto da Silva, L., & Silva, J. E. D. (2024). Microplastic Aerosol Contamination in Porto (Portugal). Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0356.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Logvina, Y., Luís Pinto da Silva and Joaquim Esteves da Silva. 2024 "Microplastic Aerosol Contamination in Porto (Portugal)" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0356.v1
Abstract
Microplastic pollution, particularly particles smaller than 5 mm, poses significant environmental and health risks due to their potential for long-range transport and inhalation. This study provides the first long-term assessment of airborne microplastics in Porto, Portugal, over 18 months (September 2022 to March 2024). Bi-weekly samples were collected using a Microplastic Collector NILU, which were size-fractionated into five categories (>125 μm, 125-63 μm, 63-25 μm, 25-12 μm, and 12-1.2 μm), and quantified via optical microscopy. Microplastics (26 to 1,484 MPs/day/m²) and fibers (14 to 646 fibers/day/m²) showed increasing pollution trends. With a focus on the 12-1.2 μm size-range due to its classification as PM10 and PM2.5, the highest microplastic concentrations were 164 MPs/day/m² (12-1.2 μm) and 534 MPs/day/m² (25-12 μm). Recovery rates of methodology varied among polymers, with PP, PE-HD, and ABS showing high accuracy (75.9%) and PES significantly lower (26.5%). The study highlights significant temporal variability in airborne microplastic pollution, increasing trends, and the need for ongoing monitoring and targeted mitigation strategies to address associated health risks.
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science and Meteorology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
