Atmospheric deposition is an important pathway for inputting microplastics: Insight into the spatiotemporal distribution and deposition flux in a mega city

Microplastics (MPs) refer to plastic particles with a size less than 5 mm, which attracted widespread attention as an emerging pollutant. The monitoring of atmospheric microplastics (AMPs) in a megacity was carried out to study the characteristics and spatiotemporal distribution of AMPs, explore the sources and estimate the deposition flux. The results showed that the annual average abundance of AMPs in Wuhan was 82.85 ± 57.66 n·m−2·day−1. The spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of AMPs show that spring was the highest season, followed by autumn, winter, and summer; the city center was higher than the suburbs. Fiber was the main type of AMPs in Wuhan, followed by fragment, film and pellet. The proportion of AMPs were mainly small (<0.5 mm) and medium (0.5–1.0 mm). Transparent and white were the main colors of AMPs, followed by red, brown. A total of 10 types polymers were detected, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was dominant. There are positive correlations between AMPs and SO2, NO2 in the atmosphere, indicating that they might be influenced by intense human activity. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and AMPs in spring showed an extremely significant positive correlation (p < 0.05). AMPs might mainly originate from the wear and tear shedding of textiles, the aging of agricultural films and plastic waste based on their polymer types and main uses. The potential geographical sources of AMPs were mainly the surrounding cities. The annual deposition flux of AMPs was about 308 tons if there were no remove processes, which highlighted the importance of atmospheric transport and deposition of MPs. The analysis of the abundance, morphological characteristics and sources of AMPs can provide data support and reference for mega-cities with high global population activities, or cities in global mid-latitude regions.