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Context:

Recently, researchers warn of a newly emerging menace i.e., inhalable microplastics in the markets of metropolitan cities in India.

Current Status of inhalable microplastics:

• The findings reveal that microplastics now constitute nearly 5% of particulate matter pollution (PM2.5 + PM10) in Indian cities. (Source: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata)

• Kolkata and Delhi recorded the highest iMP concentrations at 14.23 µg/m³ and 14.18 µg/m³ respectively, while Chennai showed 4 µg/m³ and Mumbai 2.65 µg/m³.

• The study estimates that an average city resident may inhale around 2.9 grams of microplastics over their lifetime, roughly equivalent to the weight of a small plastic bottle.

• The major contributors include synthetic clothing fibres, plastic packaging fragments, tyre and footwear wear particles, imported second-hand garments, and poorly managed or burnt plastic waste.

What are the broader implications of inhalable microplastic?

Redefining the nature of urban air pollution: The presence of inhalable microplastics fundamentally changes how we understand urban air pollution, as it shows that our air is no longer contaminated only by dust, fuel emissions, or industrial pollutants but also by microscopic plastic particles that were never included in air-quality assessments. 

Expanding the public health threat landscape: Inhalable microplastics add a new dimension to public health risks because these particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, cross biological barriers, and reach the bloodstream, thereby affecting multiple organs.

Increasing vulnerability of high-risk groups: The impact is especially severe for children, the elderly, street vendors, traffic police, and workers in crowded markets who spend long hours outdoors and inhale larger quantities of polluted air. Their long-term exposure to airborne plastics could result in higher disease burdens,

Revealing global circulation and persistence of plastics: Since microplastics are lightweight and remain suspended for long periods, they can travel across cities, states, and even continents, showing that plastic pollution is not confined to landfills or oceans but has now entered the atmospheric system.

What makes inhalable microplastic management challenging?

Pollutant that escapes routine detection: Managing inhalable microplastics is extremely difficult because they are invisible to the naked eye and undetectable through routine PM2.5 and PM10 monitors, which only measure mass concentration and not material composition. For instance, even though the recent IISER study found that microplastics constitute up to 5% of total particulate pollution in cities like Delhi and Kolkata

Absence of national standards and regulatory frameworks: The challenge is compounded by the fact that India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) do not include microplastics, leaving agencies like CPCB without legal or technical guidelines to monitor, report, or control them.

Long environmental lifecycles: Another major challenge lies in the extreme persistence of microplastics—many of these particles can survive for over 100 years, circulating through the atmosphere, depositing on soil, washing into rivers, and re-entering the air through resuspension. For example, tyre-wear particles shed on Delhi roads during winter can settle, wash into drains during monsoon, travel to the Yamuna, and later drift back into the air as dust during dry months.

Multiple sources of emission: Inhalable microplastics also originate from numerous everyday sources, many of which are dispersed, unregulated, and deeply embedded in urban lifestyles. Synthetic clothing sheds microfibres with every movement; cosmetic products release plastic beads; tyre and brake wear generate rubber fragments; and packaging materials break down into airborne dust.

How to deal with this emerging threat?

Policy level interventions:

• Include microplastics in National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) so that they are monitored and regulated alongside PM2.5 and PM10.
• Adopt global best practices, such as France’s rule mandating microfibre filters in washing machines, to reduce fibre release at the household level.
• Develop green buffer zones around congested market areas to naturally trap airborne plastic fibres.
• Promote biodegradable and low-shedding textiles, including khadi, bamboo fibre and other eco-friendly alternatives, to reduce dependence on synthetics.
• Restrict the import of foreign textile waste, especially second-hand garments coming from countries like Korea and Bangladesh, to prevent excessive shedding of old, degraded synthetic fibres in Indian markets.

Market level interventions 

• Create vehicle-free green market zones to reduce tyre-wear emissions and improve air quality for vendors and shoppers.
• Strictly enforce bans on waste burning, especially in informal settlements near markets, to prevent plastic aerosols from burnt packaging and discarded clothing.

Individual behavioural changes

• Avoid heavily worn synthetic clothing to reduce continuous shedding of microfibres into the air.
• Prefer natural materials like cotton or khadi, especially when spending long hours outdoors.

Conclusion:

Inhalable microplastics are a new class of invisible pollutants that now constitute up to 5% of India’s particulate pollution. Their ability to carry toxins, pathogens and heavy metals makes them far more dangerous than previously understood. India urgently needs air-quality standards, textile reforms and behavioural change to mitigate this emerging health hazard.

Source: Down to Earth