TY - JOUR
T1 - Occurrence and characteristics of atmospheric microplastics in Mexico City
AU - Shruti, V. C.
AU - Kutralam-Muniasamy, Gurusamy
AU - Pérez-Guevara, Fermín
AU - Roy, Priyadarsi D.
AU - Martínez, I. Elizalde
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/11/15
Y1 - 2022/11/15
N2 - While atmospheric microplastics have attracted scientific attention as a significant source of microplastic contamination in the environment, studies in large population centers remain sparse. Here we present the first report on the occurrence and distribution of atmospheric microplastics in Mexico City (Latin America's second most densely populated city), collected using PM10 and PM2.5 active samplers at seven monitoring stations (urban, residential, and industrial) during the dry and wet seasons of 2020. The results showed that microplastics were detected in all of the samples examined, with mean microplastic concentrations (items m−3) of 0.205 ± 0.061 and 0.110 ± 0.055 in PM10 and PM2.5, respectively. The spatial distribution of microplastics showed seasonal variation, with greater abundances in locations closer to industrial and urban centers. There was also a significant difference in microplastic concentrations in PM10 and PM2.5 between the dry and wet seasons. The mean PM2.5/PM10 ratio was 0.576, implying that microplastics were partitioned more towards PM2.5 than PM10 in Mexico City. Fibers were the most prominent shape (>75 %), and blue was the most common color (>60 %). The size characteristics indicated microplastics of varying lengths, ranging from 39 to 5000 μm, with 66 % being <500 μm. Metal contaminants such as aluminum, iron, and titanium were detected using SEM-EDX on randomly selected microplastics. The microplastics were identified as cellophane, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, and cellulose (rayon) using ATR-FTIR spectral analysis. Our findings unravel the extent and characteristics of atmospheric microplastics in the Mexico City metropolitan area, which will aid future research to better understand their fate, transport, and potential health risks, demanding more investigations and close monitoring.
AB - While atmospheric microplastics have attracted scientific attention as a significant source of microplastic contamination in the environment, studies in large population centers remain sparse. Here we present the first report on the occurrence and distribution of atmospheric microplastics in Mexico City (Latin America's second most densely populated city), collected using PM10 and PM2.5 active samplers at seven monitoring stations (urban, residential, and industrial) during the dry and wet seasons of 2020. The results showed that microplastics were detected in all of the samples examined, with mean microplastic concentrations (items m−3) of 0.205 ± 0.061 and 0.110 ± 0.055 in PM10 and PM2.5, respectively. The spatial distribution of microplastics showed seasonal variation, with greater abundances in locations closer to industrial and urban centers. There was also a significant difference in microplastic concentrations in PM10 and PM2.5 between the dry and wet seasons. The mean PM2.5/PM10 ratio was 0.576, implying that microplastics were partitioned more towards PM2.5 than PM10 in Mexico City. Fibers were the most prominent shape (>75 %), and blue was the most common color (>60 %). The size characteristics indicated microplastics of varying lengths, ranging from 39 to 5000 μm, with 66 % being <500 μm. Metal contaminants such as aluminum, iron, and titanium were detected using SEM-EDX on randomly selected microplastics. The microplastics were identified as cellophane, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, and cellulose (rayon) using ATR-FTIR spectral analysis. Our findings unravel the extent and characteristics of atmospheric microplastics in the Mexico City metropolitan area, which will aid future research to better understand their fate, transport, and potential health risks, demanding more investigations and close monitoring.
KW - Atmosphere
KW - Dry season
KW - Fiber
KW - Mexico
KW - Plastic pollution
KW - Wet season
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135371228&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157601
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157601
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 35882345
AN - SCOPUS:85135371228
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 847
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 157601
ER -