Wet deposition of microplastics in the city atmosphere and investigation of dry deposition of microplastics using snow surface

Microplastics are defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 mm and are one of the atmospheric pollutants of particular concern in recent years. Due to the diversity and abundance of microplastics sources, the size of atmospheric MP pollution is increasing daily. Depending on their size, MPs can enter the human body through respiration and threaten life. Especially fiber-shaped MPs can be transported to long distances in the atmosphere due to their low densities and can descend to the earth by being swept from the atmosphere by wet deposition. Studies to date have proven the existence of MPs in wet deposition. On the other hand, studies on this subject are insufficient to understand the relationship between the precipitation mechanism and the presence of MP. In this study, surface snow samples were collected from 11 different points determined by considering different MP pollutant sources in Eskişehir region, by using surface snow sampler with a certain surface area. After isolating the microplastics by removing organic material from the samples collected within 24 hours, the samples were analyzed using stereomicroscopy for visual analysis and Raman spectroscopy for chemical analysis.