Atmospheric transport is a major pathway of microplastics to remote regions

In the recent years, a large attention has been given to pollution from plastic products as a major environmental problem. Plastics degrade into smaller particles in the environment via photodegradation, physical abrasion, hydrolysis and biodegradation. Microplastics (1 um to 5 mm size particles) have been reported to affect coral reefs, marine and terrestrial animals, as well as humans. It has been reported that about 30% of microplastics in freshwater and oceanic ecosystems are tire wear particles (TWPs), while brake wear particle (BWP) emissions constitute 55% of all non-exhaust traffic-related particle emissions and 21% of all traffic-related PM emissions. There is a general conviction that the relative contribution of TWP and BWP emissions to total transport-related emissions will grow in the near future, due to the continuous reduction of exhaust traffic-related emissions. Although transport of TWPs and BWPs via runoff and wash-out processes to the marine and/or freshwater ecosyst...