Fig. 6: Atmospheric half-lives of micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) under precipitation conditions.

Half-lives of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) spheres and fibres settling from a 1 km atmospheric height during a precipitation event (i.e. combined dry and wet deposition), with two different surface wind velocities (u_s = 2 m s⁻¹ and u_s = 15 m s⁻¹) and three different rain intensities (drizzle, moderate and heavy rain). Two different land surfaces are shown (a urban and b inland water). Two additional land surfaces (desert and forest are included in Supplementary Fig. 9.