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Evidences of microplastics in aerosols and street dust: a case study of Varanasi City, India

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Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in our environment. Its presence in air, water, and soil makes it a serious threat to living organisms and has become a critical challenge across ecosystems. Present study aimed to assess the abundance of MPs in aerosols and street dust in Varanasi, a typical urban city in Northern India. Airborne particulates and street dust samples were collected from various sampling sites around Varanasi City. The physical identification of MPs was conducted by binocular microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while elemental analysis was made by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). Finally, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used for chemical characterization of MPs. Presence of MPs in both aerosols and street dust from all selected sampling sites was confirmed, however with varying magnitude. MPs of different colors having the shape of fragments, films, spherules, and fibers were recorded in the study while fragments (42%) in street dust and fibers (44%) dominated in aerosols. Majority of the MPs were < 1 mm in size and were primarily polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyester, and polyvinyl chloride types. The EDX spectra showed the presence of toxic inorganic contaminants like metallic elements on MPs, especially elements like aluminum, cadmium, magnesium, sodium, and silicon found to adsorb on the MPs. Presence of MPs in the airborne particulates and street dust in Varanasi is reported for the first time, thus initiating further research and call for a source-specific management plan to reduce its impact on human health and environment.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

TB acknowledge financial support from Banaras Hindu University under Institute of Eminence grant (6031).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India

    Dipika Pandey & Tirthankar Banerjee

  2. Aquatic Ecology Lab, Department of Himalayan Aquatic Biodiversity, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (A Central University), Srinagar-Garhwal, Uttarakhand, 246174, India

    Neha Badola & Jaspal Singh Chauhan

Authors
  1. Dipika Pandey
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  2. Tirthankar Banerjee
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  3. Neha Badola
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  4. Jaspal Singh Chauhan
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Contributions

Tirthankar Banerjee and Jaspal Singh Chauhan designed the work. Dipika Pandey conducted the research and analysis. Dipika Pandey and Neha Badola wrote the manuscript. Tirthankar Banerjee, Jaspal Singh Chauhan, Dipika Pandey, and Neha Badola participated in the interpretation of results, review, and editing of the paper.

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Correspondence to Jaspal Singh Chauhan.

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Pandey, D., Banerjee, T., Badola, N. et al. Evidences of microplastics in aerosols and street dust: a case study of Varanasi City, India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 82006–82013 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21514-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21514-1

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