January 21, 2026

expert reaction to a study investigating global atmospheric microplastic emissions

A study published in Nature investigates atmospheric microplastics emissions from land and water. 

Dr Soroush Abolfathi, Reader in Water and Environmental Engineering at the School of Engineering, University of Warwick, said:

“This careful, well-executed study, drawing on the largest global compilation of atmospheric microplastic measurements to date combined with transport modelling, suggests that previous emission estimates, especially for the ocean, may have been substantially overestimated.

“The headline figure (~6×10^17 particles yr⁻¹) is large by particle count but corresponds to a relatively small mass, and substantial uncertainties remain because different sampling methods, size cut-offs and mass-to-number conversions can change results by orders of magnitude.

“The principal practical message is methodological: we urgently need standardized, size-resolved measurements (including smaller micro- and nanoplastics) and improved emission factors before drawing firm conclusions for policy or public health.”

Dr Sam Harrison, an environmental modeller at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), said:

“The authors are correct to point out there are many uncertainties in measuring and predicting microplastics in the environment. These can be due to many factors, such as: a lack of data on the levels of microplastics emitted from various sources; not being able to accurately measure very small particles; and challenges converting mass particle numbers and masses.

“This might mean the real number of particles of all sizes emitted from land to air is much higher than six hundred quadrillion microplastic particles per year. However, this is a very large amount of very small particles, which, according to the authors’ calculations, equates to roughly 500 tonnes per year emitted from land to air. To put this in context, estimates have shown that the global emissions of all microplastics to the whole environment, including land, oceans and air, is closer to 1 million tonnes per year and emissions of bigger plastics (so-called ‘macroplastics’) is closer to 10 million tonnes per year.

“In addition to the number of particles, one should also look at the mass; the authors estimate total emissions from oceans to air is 4,000 tonnes per year – eight times the amount from land. This all highlights that it is vital that our work to tackle plastic pollution includes the whole environment.

“There is particular concern about chemicals added to or contained within plastics, many of which are toxic to humans and wildlife. Indeed, in the UK, the Food Standards Agency have recently completed a consultation on a proposed ban on bisphenols – a type of chemical that is used to make plastics harder – in food packaging. Though we cannot say with certainty whether the levels currently in the environment are causing harm, we do know that plastic use and emissions are increasing, meaning that safe levels are likely to be exceeded in the future, unless we act to curb these emissions.

“This could be achieved through a global plastics treaty, which is currently being negotiated through the UN Environment Programme, but only if member states are able to agree on an ambitious treaty that effectively addresses plastic use and chemicals of concern.

Professor Richard Lampitt, Research Scientist, National Oceanography Centre, said:

“This study addresses an important topic, but the press release suggests more confidence in the conclusions than is justified. Although the underlying data and references to these data are not yet available, the examples which are given come from studies that use widely differing analytical techniques and assumptions, meaning comparisons between data sets are impossible.

“In addition, much of the data input for the model used in this paper is from other models sometimes even from a chain of models. At each stage of the process the assumptions are very large leading to significant cascading uncertainties. The consequence is that it is difficult to draw any conclusions which are valid.”

‘Atmospheric microplastic emissions from land and ocean’ by Ioanna Evangelou et al. was published in Nature at 16:00 UK Time Wednesday 21 January 2026. 

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09998-6

Declared interests

Professor Richard Lampitt: No conflict of interest.

Dr Soroush Abolfathi: no conflicts of interest here

Dr Sam Harrison: “I have received funding from industry for projects related to plastics – from Cefic (the European Chemical Industry Council) and BASF SE.”

For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.