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https://phys.org/news/2025-06-green-roofs-shown-capture-microplastics.html>
"A small team of researchers at Tongji University, working with a colleague
from the Shanghai Academy of Landscape Architecture Science and Planning, both
in China, has found that growing plants on roofs can serve as an effective way
to remove microplastics from the air. In their study, published in the journal
Communications Earth & Environment, the group measured the amounts of
microplastics found on plants and the soil in which they grow.
Prior research has shown that growing plants on roofs can reduce heating and
cooling bills and also clear pollution from the surrounding air. The research
team wondered if that also included microplastics.
To find out, they built a simulated roof environment in their lab, where, in a
thin layer of fresh soil, they planted two kinds of plants commonly used on
rooftops in the city of Shanghai. They also introduced microplastic particles
into the air above the plants at levels common to Shanghai. They then conducted
simulated rains, measuring microplastic levels on the plants and in the soil.
They found that the plants did a good job of pulling the microplastics from the
rain, and by extension, the air above them. The green roof system, including
the soil layer, pulled approximately 97.5% of the microplastics from the
rainwater that landed on it. And after conducting measurements over multiple
rains, the team found that the percentage of microplastics removed increased
slightly with rainfall intensity.
The researchers note that while some microplastics were collected by the
leaves, the bulk of the capture was in the soil. They also noted that
microplastics shaped like fragments were collected by the soil better than
those shaped like fibers.
The research team notes that the city of Shanghai currently has just 3.56
million square meters of roof covered by vegetation. But they suggest, based on
their findings, it is possible that the city could capture approximately 56.2
metric tons of microplastic each year if all the roofs on all the buildings
were made green."
Via Lisa Stranger and Susan ****
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*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics