Big Plastic
It’s Raining Microplastics in New Zealand
The findings of a new study suggest researchers may be dramatically undercounting the global prevalence of airborne microplastics.
Shoppers walk past stores in Auckland, New Zealand, on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022.
Photographer: Fiona Goodall/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Some 74 metric tons of microplastics dropped out of the atmosphere onto the New Zealand city of Auckland in 2020, according to a study published this week in Environmental Science & Technology — the equivalent of 3 million plastic bottles.
The peer-reviewed study is the first to calculate the total mass of microplastics in a city’s air, and its findings suggest researchers may be dramatically undercounting the global prevalence of airborne microplastics.