EGU25-1526, updated on 14 Mar 2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-1526
EGU General Assembly 2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
The effects of sediment properties on the aeolian abrasion and surface characteristics of microplastics
Lucrecia Alvarez Barrantes1, Joanna E Bullard1, Sam Davis2, Cheryl McKenna Neuman3, Patrick O’Brien3, Paul Roach4, and Zhaoxia Zhou2
Lucrecia Alvarez Barrantes et al.
  • 1Geography and Environment, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK (l.alvarez-barrantes@lboro.ac.uk)
  • 2Loughborough Materials Characterisation Centre, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK
  • 3Trent Environmental Wind Tunnel (TEWT) Laboratory, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
  • 4Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK

Microplastics (< 5 mm diameter) are significant environmental contaminants whose small sizes and low densities facilitate transport by wind.  Transport by wind erosion alongside soils or sediments results in mechanical abrasion of the plastic surfaces which can alter their physical and chemical properties.  This paper using laboratory simulations to determine the effects of up to 216 hours of aeolian abrasion on polyethylene microplastics by angular, sub-rounded and rounded mineral sediments.  During the abrasion process the mineral particles break down producing small fragments which adhere to the microplastic surfaces altering their surface roughness and chemistry.  With increasing duration of abrasion the microplastic surface becomes coated with mineral fragments changing the dominant surface element from carbon to oxygen and silicon reflecting the composition of the erodents. The coating develops more rapidly when microplastics are abraded with angular sediments as these produce a lot of small fragments within the first 1-2 hours.  However, after > 200 hours of abrasion all the erodents had similar effects.  A model of microplastic surface change is presented in which the plastic cracks and fractures, then flattens alongside the increasing density of sediment fragment cover.  Surface changes may affect the ability of the plastics to transport airborne contaminants.

How to cite: Alvarez Barrantes, L., Bullard, J. E., Davis, S., McKenna Neuman, C., O’Brien, P., Roach, P., and Zhou, Z.: The effects of sediment properties on the aeolian abrasion and surface characteristics of microplastics, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-1526, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-1526, 2025.