NWO project: Plastic Aerosols

Microplastics (MPs) are often generated from the breakdown of larger plastic debris or directly emitted by industries. A growing body of evidence suggests that plastic and its additives adversely affect human and environmental health. Once MPs are airborne as plastic aerosols, they can be inhaled by humans. Furthermore, plastic aerosols can potentially affect the climate by altering solar radiation and cloud formation. Since plastic has been widely used for the last hundred years, studies have discovered MP in many remote areas such as the Arctic and glaciers. Atmospheric transport was identified as the source of plastic pollution in remote regions. Despite increasing attention to plastic pollution in the environment, airborne NMPs have not been recognized as air pollutants or aerosol species.

Plastic aerosols are stable in the atmosphere, which is similar to mineral dust aerosols. However, the key physical and aerodynamic properties of plastic aerosol are mostly unknown. NMPs as aerosols have a wide range of densities and shapes that influence their behavior. These properties cannot be easily translated from existing methods that were developed for spherical mineral dust. Therefore, this project will measure essential parameters for MP emission and deposition. The fundamental knowledge obtained from the measurements will be applied to develop an atmospheric model for plastics.

The proposed project will be the first attempt to quantify plastic aerosol emitted from the soil. The simulation results can be applied to future research on plastic transport at different scales and investigate the potential impact of plastic aerosols on public health and climate. The outcomes of this research will contribute to making well-informed decisions in regulating plastic pollution based on scientific knowledge.