April 27, 2019
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Microplastics can travel far on a gentle breeze causing plastic pollution to all corners of the planet
Microplastics can be carried along for miles by the wind, travelling efficiently through the atmosphere to reach the remotest of regions, a shock new study has found.
It is known microplastics can travel long distances via waterways, depositing fibres from human clothing, but little research has looked at their transport through the air.
A study of the air on a remote mountain in the French Pyrenees showed that significant amounts of microplastics were being deposited daily into the atmosphere from locations almost 60 miles away.
Plastic pollution on Earth is set to double by 2030, threatening wildlife and human health and microplastics are being increasingly found in remote areas of our planet. Previously, microparticles have shown up in the Arctic, where the process of freezing and melting sea ice transports plastic particles. They were recently found in the Forni mountain glaciers in Switzerland, confirming the widespread contamination of natural resources.
Evidence exists for microplastics being transported by air are also available, but mostly for dense megacities such as Dongguan in China and Paris in France.
Few studies have been carried out in remote regions where there is little human interference. In the current study, scientists from Edinburgh analysed samples collected over five months taken from the air around various remote regions. They found, on average, 249 fragments, 73 films and 44 fibres, were being deposited every day per square metre.
Employing a technique known as air mass trajectory analysis, the researchers calculated that the microplastics had been transported over a distance of 59 miles (95km).
The scientists say their findings show that microplastics can reach and affect remote, sparsely inhabited areas through atmospheric transport. The process of freezing and melting sea ice in the Arctic makes it a particularly good transporter of plastic particles. Even larvaceans found in the sea have been shown to provide a pathway for transporting microplastics into deep-sea food webs.
Recent expeditions to collect samples in the Arctic found record levels of microplastics and fragments that included polyethylene, nylon, polyester and cellulose acetate. High levels of paint and nylon particles were also obtained.
Environmental charity WWF International has warned plastic waste in the oceans could reach 300 million tons in just over a decade. That would double the amount of plastic in the ocean, which took more than half a century to build up between 1950 and 2016. Almost a third of all plastics produced, or 104 million tons annually, will find their way into the oceans and natural world.
The full report of the study was published in Natural Geosciences.
Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk
