Scientists say they have found high levels of small plastic particles in Arctic snow. Their findings provide more evidence that plastic is entering Earth's atmosphere and traveling great distances around the planet. A new report describing the discovery was published in Science Advances.
A German-Swiss research team collected snow samples from the Arctic and other areas. They included northern Germany, the Bavarian and Swiss Alps, and the North Sea island of Heligoland. When the researchers examined the samples in a laboratory, they were surprised to find very high levels of microplastics.
Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic. These plastic particles are generally smaller than 5 millimeters in length. Other studies have found microplastics in the environment. They come from the disposal and breakdown of man-made plastic products and industrial waste.
Melanie Bergmann co-wrote the report on the new study. She told The Associated Press that while her team did expect to find some microplastics in the samples, they were surprised by the very large amounts.
Bergmann is a researcher at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in the German city of Bremerhaven. The study found the highest levels of microplastics came from the Bavarian Alps. One snow sample from the area had 154,000 microplastic particles per liter. Samples collected from the Arctic had much lower levels. However, even samples from the Arctic contained up to 14,000 particles per liter, the study found.
Bergmann said in a statement she believes the new study clearly shows that "the majority of the microplastic in the snow comes from the air". She also said she hopes the new study will lead to more research on this issue. She thinks that microscopic plastic particles should be included in worldwide observations of air pollution levels. "We really need to know what effects microplastics have on humans, especially if inhaled with the air that we breathe," Bergmann said.
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