Integrated manufacturing of REciclable multi-material COmposites for the TRANSport sector
Effect of the first-flush phenomenon on the quantification of microplastics in rainwater
Precipitation of airborne microplastics (MPs) by rainfall is one of the major transport pathways of MPs from land-to-marine. While most studies examining wet precipitation of MPs collect surface runoffs, direct investigations of MPs in rainwater are hardly reported. In this study, high-frequency and direct rainwater sampling methodology considering the first-flush effect was demonstrated. The variations in MP abundance were evaluated by the inlet size of rainwater collector, time, and duration of sampling. As a result, a stable abundance of MPs was obtained when samplings were conducted at the same time and duration even with different collectors. On the other hand, the abundance increased as much as 4.5 times in samples collected at different times due to the first-flush effect of rainfall. Thus, our methodology that presents MPs concentration versus time curves based on high-frequency sampling would be helpful for easy comparison between similar rainfall studies.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 768737
