Mini-review of microplastics in the atmosphere and their risks to humans.

Studies of microplastics (MPs) have highlighted their ubiquity in various environments. Recently, microplastics have been observed in atmospheric fallout collected from some cities. Although the studies are limited, some researches have shown that synthetic textiles are main source of airborne microplastics, and fibers are the dominant shape of microplastics in the atmosphere. Due to their small size, airborne microplastics can be directly inhaled posing health risks to humans, particularly to industry workers. Meteorological conditions and human activities affect the distribution and deposition of airborne microplastics. Furthermore, airborne microplastics are contributors to microplastic pollution in aquatic environments. We summarized the current knowledge and provide insights into further research to better understand airborne microplastics and their risks to human.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  Science of the Total Environment

• Publication date

  2019-11-13

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135504PMID 31753503
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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