Children's playgrounds contain more microplastics than other areas in urban parks

Children spend many hours in urban parks and playgrounds, where the tree canopy could filter microplastics released from the surrounding urban hotspots. However, the majority of children's playgrounds also contain plastic structures that could potentially release microplastics in situ. Yet, no study to date has quantified microplastic concentrations in different parts of the park to assess if the children's playgrounds pose a higher exposure risk than other places inside the park. We evaluated the extent of microplastic contamination in the sand, soil, and leaf samples from 19 playgrounds inside urban parks in Los Angeles, CA, USA. The average microplastic concentration in sand samples collected inside the playground was 72 p g