Study quantifies 219 tons of airborne microplastics settling in Switzerland yearly

Researchers at Empa, with colleagues from Eawag and Agroscope, measured atmospheric microplastic deposition at five Swiss sites over a full year and estimated that about 219 metric tons settle annually in areas below 2,000 meters elevation. The study, published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, estimates roughly 78 tons land on agricultural soil and about 10 tons fall directly into water bodies each year. Zurich recorded an average of 881 particles per square meter per day, while the other sites ranged from 249 to 331. The team found polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and polypropylene most frequently, and reported that dry deposition accounted for about 60 percent of the mass.