Plastic rain in protected areas of the United States.

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0404511 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1095-9203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00368075 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Science Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: : Washington, DC : American Association for the Advancement of Science
Original Publication: New York, N.Y. : [s.n.] 1880-

Conservation of Natural Resources* ; Environmental Pollution* ; Plastics* ; Rain* ; Soil Pollutants* ; Water Pollutants, Chemical*; United States ; Wind

Eleven billion metric tons of plastic are projected to accumulate in the environment by 2025. Because plastics are persistent, they fragment into pieces that are susceptible to wind entrainment. Using high-resolution spatial and temporal data, we tested whether plastics deposited in wet versus dry conditions have distinct atmospheric life histories. Further, we report on the rates and sources of deposition to remote U.S. conservation areas. We show that urban centers and resuspension from soils or water are principal sources for wet-deposited plastics. By contrast, plastics deposited under dry conditions were smaller in size, and the rates of deposition were related to indices that suggest longer-range or global transport. Deposition rates averaged 132 plastics per square meter per day, which amounts to >1000 metric tons of plastic deposition to western U.S. protected lands annually.
(Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)

Comment in: Science. 2020 Jun 12;368(6496):1184-1185. (PMID: 32527817)

0 (Plastics)
0 (Soil Pollutants)
0 (Water Pollutants, Chemical)

Date Created: 20200613 Date Completed: 20200619 Latest Revision: 20200619

20240628

10.1126/science.aaz5819

32527833