A recent study, led by researchers at Tongji University in Shanghai, examined the correlation between green roofs — that is, urban rooftops dedicated to plants — and their ability to intercept and capture atmospheric microplastics during periods of rainfall.
Published in the Communications Earth and Environment journal, their research indicated that when polluted rain lands on green roofs, the inflow of water and indirect moisture helps intercept microplastics and decrease their urban concentration by more than 97.5%.
More specifically, the structure of green roofs enables microplastics to drip downward over time rather than drifting away, especially under the added influence of rainfall. Different vertical sections of a green roof can store microplastics to varying degrees, according to AZoLifeSciences, with the planting soil layer retaining the most, the overground areas retaining some, and the roots retaining little to none.
"These results show that green roofs can play a valuable role in reducing urban microplastic pollution and offer practical insights for designing future stormwater and air-quality management strategies," the team explained.
Microplastics are invading our environment and our bodies in greater and greater numbers these days as we consume and improperly dispose of more and more plastic products. You may be familiar with oceanic microplastic pollution already, but it doesn't stop there — microplastics are present anywhere plastic breaks down, navigating in microscopic fragments from oceans and landfills into our soil, water, and eventually food.
And due to their size, microplastics can't easily be filtered out of the things we ingest and have thereby been linked to a range of health concerns from organ damage to various cancers.
Fortunately, innovative solutions such as targeted cleanup technologies and efforts, as well as the aforementioned green rooftops, can curb the spread of microplastics in different regions. The latest green roof study suggests that eliminating microplastics in urban settings may not necessarily require complex and high-powered feats of engineering; devoting rooftops to growing vegetation makes for a simple, aesthetically pleasing, and eco-conscious upgrade.
"These findings offer valuable insights and data for developing future microplastic pollution management strategies," the researchers concluded.
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