Quick analysis of the influence of the monsoon on the concentration of microplastics in the air

Microplastic particles are found in various aquatic environments, and numerous studies are being conducted to understand their spatial distribution. However, the amount of microplastics in the air is even greater than that found in these environments, posing a risk to human health and an important primary source of contamination. Rainwater is an important carrier of these contaminants, as they are incorporated into water droplets and can further increase their toxicity when in contact with acid rain. To test the potential for removing microplastics particles from the air by rain, rainwater was collected three times during the rainy season in the municipality of Macapá, Amapá State, Brazil. Chemical digestion and filtration protocols were used to identify the particles. A total of 225 ml of rainwater and 194 inorganic particles (microplastics) were collected, the vast majority of which were classified as fibers (96,9%). Comparing the data obtained with local meteorological data, it was observed that the amount of microplastics collected tends to increase with the number of previous days without rain, indicating that this phenomenon may be serving to eliminate these particles from the air, since the collections that had rain events the previous day presented lower amounts of microplastics.