Occurrence and transport of microplastics sampled within and above the planetary boundary layer

Nowadays, there is no direct evidence about the presence of microplastics (MPs) in atmosphere above ground level. Here, we investigated occurrence, chemical composition, shape, and size MPs aircraft sampling campaigns flying within planetary boundary layer (PBL). The results showed that were present with concentrations ranging from 1.5 m−3 rural areas to 13.9 urban areas. represented up almost one third total amount microparticles collected. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy allowed identifying seven types highest diversity corresponding Atmospheric transport deposition simulations performed using HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. Air mass trajectory analyses could be transported more than 1000 km before being deposited. This pioneer study first microplastic PBL their potential long-range point release even crossing distant borders.