Department of Environmental Planning, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Environmental Planning, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Environ Pollut. 2023 Jun 15;327:121481. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121481. Epub 2023 Mar 30.
This study is the first report on atmospheric microplastics (MPs) observed in five outdoor environments, including an urban forest, a business center, commercial areas, and a public transportation hub in Seoul, South Korea. Air samples were collected using an active air pump sampler for 24 h in each area only on days without rainfall. All observed microplastics are secondary microplastics, in the form of irregularly-shaped fragments or fibers produced through various degradation processes, rather than being primarily produced like microbeads. The abundance of atmospheric MPs varied depending on the environment (i.e., region, height, and time) from 0.33 to 1.21 MP m-3, with the average number of MPs being 0.72 MP m-3 (standard deviation ± 0.39). MPs in the urban forest was observed to be 27% lower in abundance than that in the urban center which is ∼3 km away. The central business district was observed to have a 25% higher abundance during weekdays than on weekends. Our results show the ubiquity of MPs in various areas from high-rise buildings to forests tens of kilometers away from their direct sources, and a positive correlation between the abundance of MP and human activity. Morphologically, the fragment type (87.4%) predominated over the fiber type (12.6%), and chemically, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) components accounted for 65% of the total MP. PP polymers were found in all observation sites and contributed to 59% of the total MP fragments. The observed fibrous MPs were mainly composed of PET (72.7%) and PP (18.2%) polymers. Compared to other large cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Paris), Seoul is exposed to low levels of atmospheric MPs and high proportions of PP polymers. This study is limited to atmospheric MPs observed in summer and further investigation of MPs is needed to comprehensively understand the distribution and cycle of MPs based on long-term monitoring of atmospheric MPs.
本研究首次报告了在韩国首尔的五个户外环境中观察到的大气微塑料（MPs），包括城市森林、商业区、商业中心和公共交通枢纽。仅在无降雨的日子里，在每个区域使用主动空气泵采样器采集 24 小时的空气样本。所有观察到的微塑料都是次生微塑料，呈不规则形状的碎片或纤维形式，是通过各种降解过程产生的，而不是像微珠那样主要产生的。大气 MPs 的丰度取决于环境（即区域、高度和时间），从 0.33 到 1.21 MPs m-3，平均 MPs 数量为 0.72 MPs m-3（标准偏差 ± 0.39）。与距离约 3 公里的城市中心相比，城市森林中 MPs 的丰度低 27%。商业区在工作日的丰度比周末高 25%。我们的研究结果表明，MPs 存在于从高层建筑到离其直接来源数十公里远的森林等各种区域中，并且 MPs 的丰度与人类活动之间存在正相关关系。形态上，碎片类型（87.4%）占主导地位，纤维类型（12.6%）次之，化学上，聚丙烯（PP）和聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）成分占总 MPs 的 65%。所有观察点均发现 PP 聚合物，占总 MPs 碎片的 59%。观察到的纤维状 MPs 主要由 PET（72.7%）和 PP（18.2%）聚合物组成。与其他大城市（上海、北京、巴黎）相比，首尔暴露于大气 MPs 的水平较低，PP 聚合物的比例较高。本研究仅限于夏季观察到的大气 MPs，需要进一步研究 MPs，以便基于大气 MPs 的长期监测全面了解 MPs 的分布和循环。
