Aerosol emission from soil during field burning

Chen, Shaodong; Lu, Xiaohui; Ma, Xiewen; Zhu, Xun; Gao, Qianqian; Jiang, Xinghua; Yang, Shanye; Gan, Yuqi; Wang, Xiaofei

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.119924

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Currently, microplastics are widely detected in soils (Figure S1). Moreover, since 2019, they have been reported to become airborne as part of soil particles, undergoing a transport mechanism like other soil particles. − Wind erosion is a physical phenomenon that lifts soil particles through the force of the wind and generates dust aerosol (hereafter referred to as dust), − through mechanisms such as saltation bombardment, aggregate disintegration, and aerodynamic entrainment. During this suspension process, the finer and lighter fraction of soil is more easily introduced into the atmosphere than the bulk of the soil. , With microplastic in soil of lower density compared to natural soil minerals (∼0.9–2.2 g·cm –3 versus ∼2.6–2.8 g·cm –3 ), microplastics are 30–60% lighter and more prone to being lifted by the wind .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic Emission from Soil-Air Interface

Yang,

Lu,

Peng

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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To bridge the gap in understanding soil−air microplastic emissions, here we studied the soil−air transfer mechanism of microplastics with laboratory simulations using microplastic particles varying in size from 1 to 5000 μm. Our findings indicate that the size and shape of the microplastics together with the soil type and moisture levels are major determinants of the microplastic enrichment ratio (ER) in dust, overshadowing the role of polymer types. Notably, microplastic pellets larger than 20 μm do not enrich in dust, while microplastic fibers, even those as large as 500−5000 μm in length, do enrich in dust. Based on our ER measurement, the global microplastic size distribution in soil and dust aerosol production flux, we made a preliminary bottom-up assessment of global soil microplastic emissions of 48[0.4−1217] kilotons/year. Our pioneering findings on the global atmospheric soil−air microplastic flux provide insights that could guide the future development of a more precise microplastic emission inventory.

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