Micro- and nanoplastics transfer from seawater to the atmosphere through aerosolization under controlled laboratory conditions
Catarino, A.I.; León, M.C.; Li, Y.; Lambert, S.; Vercauteren, M.; Asselman, J.; Janssen, C.; Everaert, G.; De Rijcke, M. (2023). Micro- and nanoplastics transfer from seawater to the atmosphere through aerosolization under controlled laboratory conditions. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 192: 115015. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115015
Sea spray has been suggested to enable the transfer of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) from the ocean to the atmosphere, but only a few studies support the role of sea spray aerosols (SSAs) as a source of airborne particles. We demonstrated that MNPs are aerosolized during wave action, via SSAs, under controlled laboratory conditions. We used a mini-Marine-Aerosol-Reference-Tank (miniMART), a device that mimics naturally occurring physical mechanisms producing SSAs, and assessed the aerosolization of fluorescent polystyrene beads (0.5-10 μm), in artificial seawater. The SSAs contained up to 18,809 particles/mL of aerosols for 0.5 μm beads, with an enrichment factor of 19-fold, and 1977 particles/mL of aerosols for 10 μm beads with a 2-fold enrichment factor. Our study demonstrates that the use of the miniMART is essential to assess MNPs aerosolization in a standardized way, supporting the hypothesis which states that MNPs in the surface of the ocean may be transferred to the atmosphere.
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