Overview on the occurrence of microplastics in air and implications from the use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

Environmental pollution from microplastics (MPs) in air is a matter of growing concern because of human health implications. Airborne MPs can be directly and continuously inhaled in air environments. Especially high MPs contributions can be found in indoor air due to the erosion and breakage of consumer, domestic and construction products, although there is little information available on their sources and concentrations and the risks they might pose. This is in part due to the fact that sampling and analysis of airborne MPs is a complex and multistep procedure where techniques used are not yet standardized. In this study, we provide an overview on the presence of MPs in indoor air, potential health impacts, the available methods for their sampling and detection and implications from the use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.A.Karanasiou, acknowledges funding by the Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (RYC-2014-16885) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities co-funded by the European Social Fund. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Excelencia Severo Ochoa, Project CEX2018-000794-S) within the project MOMIA and project PID2019-105732GB-C21 from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.Peer reviewe