What processes are responsible for contributing airborne microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) to the environment? This is what a recent study published in Scientific Reports hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the role of wind and sewage for adding MNPs to the environment. This study has the potential to help researchers better understand the health effects of MNPs and the steps that can be taken to mitigate them.
For the study, the researchers analyzed data from Combined Sewer Overflows (spills) off the coast of Plymouth, UK between 2022 and 2023 and compared them to wind patterns. The goal of the study was to ascertain how MNPs were carried from the spills back inland, which could potentially lead to human health risks. In the end, the researchers found that that MNPs were transported from spills back inland from wind patterns over the course of 1,586 hours, or approximately 10 percent of the two-year study period.
“The health implications of this work are important,” said Dr. Clive Sabel, who is a Professor of Big Data and Spatial Science at the University of Plymouth and a co-author on the study. “Inhaled microplastics can cross into our blood streams and from there can accumulate in organs such as our brains and livers. We need legislation to force our UK water supply companies to remove microplastics from our waste water systems.”
The researchers note the long-term implications of their study, including the impacts of MNPs on coastal communities and human health. They emphasize the importance of further research to better understand the connection between water pollution, wind patterns, and MNPs.
What new discoveries about MNPs will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Scientific Reports, EurekAlert!