Scientists at The University of Manchester are urging the creation of a global network of air monitoring stations to track airborne plastic pollution. In a new review published in the journal Current Pollution Reports, researchers examined how micro and nanoplastics enter the air and travel vast distances, revealing significant gaps in current knowledge.
Image Credit: DigArt/Shutterstock.com
The researchers investigated existing scientific studies on how microscopic plastic fragments, also known as micro and nanoplastics, reach the atmosphere, where they come from, and the mechanisms that transport them over long distances.
The study exposes substantial gaps in the knowledge and understanding of airborne plastic pollution, which are caused by inconsistencies in measuring methodologies, inadequate data, oversimplified simulations, and a lack of understanding of atmospheric cycling mechanisms.
One major uncertainty is the amount of plastic entering the atmosphere. Current estimates range widely, from less than 800 tons to approximately 9 million tons per year, making it impossible to determine the exact global effect. It is also uncertain if the primary sources are land-based, such as road traffic, or marine, such as sea spray.
Such huge uncertainties increase the possibility that airborne plastics, which represent potential dangers to human and environmental health, have a larger presence and effect than existing monitoring and modeling methods have detected.
The scale of uncertainty around how much plastic is entering our atmosphere is alarming. Plastic pollution can have serious consequences for human health and ecosystems, so in order to assess the risks, we need to better understand how these particles behave in the atmosphere. If we want to protect people and the planet, we need better data, better models, and global coordination.
Zhonghua Zheng, Study Lead Author and Lecturer, Data Science & Environmental Analytics, The University of Manchester
Every year, the world generates around 400 million tons of plastic, with a large amount ending up as waste. Over time, these plastics degrade into minute particles known as microplastics (less than 5 mm) and nanoplastics (less than 1 micron), which are increasingly discovered in the atmosphere, oceans, and soil. These particles can travel hundreds of kilometers in days and have even reached isolated locations such as polar ice zones, deserts, and remote mountain peaks.
While understanding of the problem has rapidly improved, crucial problems remain unsolved due to inadequate real-world data, unreliable sampling techniques, and computer models that oversimplify how plastic works in the air.
To overcome these difficulties, the authors propose that future research efforts focus on three crucial areas:
- Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI)
- Expanding and standardizing worldwide observation networks
- Enhancing and improving atmospheric modelling
They believe that this comprehensive strategy has the potential to change the understanding and management of the plastic pollution crisis.
By adopting this integrated approach, we can fundamentally transform how we understand and manage this emerging threat. AI can play a powerful role in analyzing data and simulating plastic movement, it can help make sense of fragmented datasets, detect hidden patterns, and integrate information from multiple sources – but it needs good quality data to work with. All of these areas must work hand in hand to manage this emerging threat and shape effective global pollution strategies.
Fei Jiang, PhD, Researcher, The University of Manchester
Journal Reference:
Jiang, F., et al. (2025) A Review of Atmospheric Micro/Nanoplastics: Insights into Source and Fate for Modelling Studies. Current Pollution Reports. doi.org/10.1007/s40726-025-00375-5