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Leipzig. Although plastic particles in the air are increasingly coming into focus, knowledge about their distribution and effects is still limited. Chemical analyses from Leipzig now provide details from Germany for the first time: around 4 per cent of the particulate matter consists of plastic. Around two-thirds of this comes from tyre abrasion. Extrapolated, this means that people in a city like Leipzig inhale approximately 2.1 micrograms of plastic per day through the air, which increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 9 per cent and from lung cancer by 13 per cent.
These findings underscore the need to take global action against plastic pollution and to examine air quality and health at the regional level, write researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) and Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg in the journal communications earth & environment, published by the Nature Publishing Group. The study was conducted as part of the Leibniz Association-funded project "AirPlast".
Plastic particles in the air have become the focus of scientific attention in recent years because they have been detected even in uninhabited regions such as the polar regions and high mountains, and because they have the potential to disrupt ecological processes and affect human health. There are many possible sources of this type of air pollution, such as tyre wear, brake wear, textile fibres, dust and urban surfaces. However, plastic that enters the oceans in large quantities via rivers can also later return to the air as microplastics and nanoplastics via sea spray. Nanoplastics are defined as all plastic particles smaller than 1 micrometre, while microplastics are defined as all particles between one micrometre and one millimetre. Although the amount of plastic is clearly increasing, too little is known about the risks posed by inhaled plastic particles.
What is clear so far is that inhaled nanoplastics can enter the lungs and cause oxidative stress or inflammatory reactions that contribute to respiratory diseases. In addition, these particles can carry heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other substances on their surface, which increase toxicity. The lack of knowledge about microplastics and nanoplastics is also one reason why neither the World Health Organisation (WHO) nor the European Union currently has any recommendations or limit values for plastics in the air. While plastic pollution in the oceans is now part of the negotiations on a UN plastics agreement, the small plastic particles in the air have so far played hardly any role in the political discussion.
The fact that research into plastic in the air has only gained momentum in the last ten years. One reason is that “plastic” is not just one material, but a whole group of different substances with different chemical properties. Because of this diversity, scientists use several complementary analytical methods. Spectroscopic techniques can provide information about particle structure and surface characteristics, while mass-based approaches are used to determine overall quantities. However, very small particles, especially nanoplastics, are particularly difficult to analyse and clearly identify in complex environmental samples. Conventional optical methods are limited in their ability to reliably detect particles in the nanometer range, and identifying the exact polymer type remains challenging at these small scales.
To overcome these limitations, pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) has become an important tool. In this analytical method, the samples are broken down into smaller fragments by rapid heating (pyrolysis), separated by gas chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry. As there are currently no standards for detecting the different polymers, the team had to develop methods for this. To this end, 11 common types including TWPs (Tire wear particles) were selected, such as PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PS (polystyrene), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate/plexiglass), PC (polycarbonate), PA6 (polyamide 6), MDI-PUR (Polyurethane). The analytical "fingerprint" was determined using commercially available raw polymers and then compared with the samples from the air in Leipzig.
Particulate matter (PM) samples of PM10 (smaller than 10 micrometres) and PM2.5 (smaller than 2.5 micrometres) were taken using two high-volume samplers, as are otherwise used at air monitoring stations in accordance with European standards. In this process, 500 litres of air per minute are sucked through a filter system and the filter is changed every 24 hours. The filters are later analysed in the laboratory using pyrolysis gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Measurements were taken over a two-week period (1 to 14 September 2022) in the Science Park on Torgauer Strasse, an arterial road in the Leipzig city area – in other words, at a hotspot of air pollution. "This gave us a focused and detailed overview of the composition of micro-nano plastics in areas with heavy traffic. This setup offered the advantage of being able to record the peak values of urban exposure with a fine size resolution of particulate matter and generate high-quality baseline data for assessing health risks," explains Ankush Kaushik, a doctoral student at TROPOS who took and analysed the samples. "To our knowledge, this study represents the first polymer-resolved, size-segregated quantification of airborne micro- and nano-plastics in Germany that integrates analytical measurements with exposure and health risk assessment."
The study now published provides an initial insight into the pollution of the air we breathe with microplastics in a city like Leipzig. However, the extent to which concentrations vary over time and space remains completely unclear. From the researchers' point of view, different locations (urban and rural backgrounds) should therefore be included and longer-term sampling carried out. In the next step, Kaushik's team plans to evaluate samples from an entire year to find out whether there are seasonal fluctuations.
In the Leibniz project "AirPlast", analytical methods were developed to detect and quantify such synthetic polymers in aerosol samples. Together with modelling approaches, their potential sources and transport in the atmosphere were traced. Researchers from the Leibniz Institutes for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) and Polymer Research (ipf), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Technical University of Berlin and the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg were involved.
Micro- and nano plastic particles in urban air had previously been identified by other research teams in Graz (Austria), Kyoto (Japan) and Shanghai (China). The Leipzig study is the first in Germany and provides important insights into the composition and origin of the fine dust particles: tyre abrasion particles dominated with a share of about 65% of the total plastics, followed by polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate. These polymers correlated strongly with carbon-containing aerosol markers, suggesting common emission and mixing in the atmosphere.
Fine dust has been known to pose a health risk for decades. According to the WHO, mass concentration is a key parameter for assessing air pollution and its impact on health, as well as for developing legislation. In order to roughly estimate the extent to which people in Leipzig are exposed to risks from plastic particles in the air they breathe, the research team first determined the mass of plastic particles in the air and then calculated how much adults inhale based on their lung volume. According to their findings, residents of Leipzig who spend around 24 hours a day on Torgauer Strasse would inhale approximately 2.1 micrograms of plastic particulate matter per day, which corresponds to 0.7 milligrams per year. Estimates of how much microplastic humans breathe in have also been made for megacities in China and India. However, these estimates vary strongly. This wide range underlines how important it is to record all relevant types of plastic and how necessary standardised measurements are.
Due to their small size, the smaller nano-plastic particles in particular can penetrate deeper into the respiratory tract, which carries a higher potential for long-term illness. To investigate possible health effects, the Leipzig study calculated the relative risk based on existing epidemiological models to estimate environmental exposure. These projections resulted in a potentially increased mortality risk of 5–9% for cardiopulmonary diseases (relative risk (RR): 1.08) and 8–13% for lung cancer (relative risk (RR): 1.12). "This is higher than the risk of fine particulate matter PM2.5 in general in Europe. Our observations suggest that micro-nano plastics, despite their low mass, may pose health risks over time. The increased risk of mortality from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease could be caused by a possible polymer-specific toxicity of plastic particulate matter," explains Kaushik.
Combating air pollution from plastic particulate matter is important for reducing human exposure (UN Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being)), integrating air quality management into urban planning (UN SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities) and mitigating the impact on the atmosphere (UN SDG 13: Climate Action). "With around two-thirds of microplastics coming from tyre abrasion, this shows that action is needed and that the fine dust problem cannot be solved by switching to electric mobility alone. To protect health, it would be important to also take tyre abrasion into account when regulating air quality and to set limits for microplastics in the air," demands Prof. Hartmut Herrmann from TROPOS, who led the study.
Current findings such as this study from Leipzig increasingly suggest that inhaling plastic particles, especially nanoplastics, could have health implications. However, research in this area is still relatively new. Further long-term studies are needed to confirm the toxicity of individual types of plastic, establish safe limits and develop regulatory standards. Until then, the findings from Leipzig underscore the importance of monitoring micro- and nanoplastics particles in the air as new pollutants and further refining methods for assessing health risks. Tilo Arnhold
Links:
Leibniz Cooperative Excellence
https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/forschung/leibniz-wettbewerb/leibniz-koopera...
TROPOS: Characterisation of chemical aerosol properties
https://www.tropos.de/institut/abteilungen/chemie-der-atmosphaere/feldexperiment...
Ankush Kaushik (EN)
Department of Atmospheric Chemistry, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, and University of Leipzig, Germany
Tel. +49-341-2717-8018
https://www.tropos.de/institut/ueber-uns/mitarbeitende
and
Dr Manuela van Pinxteren (DE+EN)
Department of Atmospheric Chemistry, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, and University of Leipzig, Germany
Tel. +49-341-2717-7102
https://www.tropos.de/institut/ueber-uns/mitarbeitende/manuela-van-pinxteren
and
Prof. Hartmut Herrmann (DE+EN)
Head of the Department of Atmospheric Chemistry, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, and University of Leipzig, Germany
Tel. +49-341-2717-7024
https://www.tropos.de/institut/ueber-uns/mitarbeitende/hartmut-herrmann
or
Tilo Arnhold (DE+EN)
Public Relations, TROPOS
Tel. +49-341-2717-7189
http://www.tropos.de/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/
Ankush Kaushik, Anju Elizbath Peter, Manuela van Pinxteren, Barbara M. Scholz-Böttcher & Hartmut Herrmann: Composition, interactions and resulting inhalation risk of micro- and nano-plastics in urban air. Commun Earth Environ 6, 985 (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-025-02980-0
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02980-0
This research was funded by the Leibniz Association (Berlin, Germany) as part of the Leibniz Collaborative Excellence Programme under the project "AirPlast" (funding code: K389/2021). Open access funding was made possible and organised by the DEAL project.
https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases/details/mikro-und-nanopla...
Particulate matter (PM) samples of PM10 (smaller than 10 micrometres) and PM2.5 (smaller than 2.5 mi ...
Quelle: Ankush Kaushik, TROPOS
Copyright: Ankush Kaushik, TROPOS
Around two-thirds of microplastics in the air come from tyre abrasion, according to a study from Lei ...
Quelle: Tilo Arnhold, TROPOS
Copyright: Tilo Arnhold, TROPOS
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Particulate matter (PM) samples of PM10 (smaller than 10 micrometres) and PM2.5 (smaller than 2.5 mi ...
Quelle: Ankush Kaushik, TROPOS
Copyright: Ankush Kaushik, TROPOS
Around two-thirds of microplastics in the air come from tyre abrasion, according to a study from Lei ...
Quelle: Tilo Arnhold, TROPOS
Copyright: Tilo Arnhold, TROPOS
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