A fluorescence approach for an online measurement technique of atmospheric microplastics

Microplastic particles in the atmosphere are regularly detected in urban areas as well as in very remote locations. Yet the sources, chemical transformation, transport, and abundance of airborne microplastics still remain largely unexplained. Therefore, their impact on health, weather and climate re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science: atmospheres 2024-06, Vol.4 (6), p.61-61
Main Authors: Gratzl, Jrgen, Seifried, Teresa M, Stolzenburg, Dominik, Grothe, Hinrich
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemistry
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Summary:Microplastic particles in the atmosphere are regularly detected in urban areas as well as in very remote locations. Yet the sources, chemical transformation, transport, and abundance of airborne microplastics still remain largely unexplained. Therefore, their impact on health, weather and climate related processes lacks comprehensive understanding. Single particle detection presents a substantial challenge due to its time-consuming process and is conducted solely offline. To get more information about the distribution, fluxes and sources of microplastics in the atmosphere, a reliable and fast online measurement technique is of utmost importance. Here we demonstrate the use of the autofluorescence of microplastic particles for their online detection with a high sensitivity towards different widely used polymers. We deploy online, single particle fluorescence spectroscopy with a Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor WIBS 5/NEO (Droplet Measurement Technologies, USA), which enables single particle fluorescence measurements at two excitation wavelengths (280 nm and 370 nm) and in two emission windows (310400 nm and 420-650 nm). We investigated shredded (
ISSN:2634-3606
2634-3606
DOI:10.1039/d4ea00010b