Atmospheric deposition of microplastics in urban, rural, forest environments: A case study of Thulamela Local Municipality.

ABSTRACT: Microplastic (MP) pollution, a pressing environmental issue globally, has received considerable attention in marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments. However, studies on the deposition of airborne MPs, particularly in Southern African regions, have received less attention. As such, the current study aimed at investigating the atmospheric deposition of MPs across three different environments, namely urban, rural and forest in the Thulamela Local Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa. We hypothesised that MP deposition will exhibit significant differences between different environments, with the urban environment having the highest MP deposition fluxes due to the dense population in the area and high human activities. The study results showed that MP deposition fluxes varied significan

SUBMITTER: Mutshekwa T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11875349 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature