‘Microplastics found in freshly fallen snow’
NEW DELHI: Scientists in New Zealand said they found microplastic particles in freshly fallen Antarctica snow for the first time, media reports said on Thursday, raising concerns over the effects of plastic pollution, particularly for the unique ecosystem of the continent.
Microplastics - tiny plastic fragments smaller than a grain of rice - develop from the erosion of plastic materials. They have previously been found in Antarctic sea ice and surface water, but never before in fresh snow, the BBC reported.
Researchers from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand collected samples of freshly fallen snow from the Ross Ice Shelf in late 2019 “to determine whether microplastics had been transferred from the atmosphere into the snow”, The Guardian reported.
“We were optimistic that [we] wouldn’t find any microplastics in such a pristine and remote location,” said Laura Revell, associate professor at the university, who was also involved in the research, according to the Guardian.
Shockingly, plastic particles were found in all the samples. There were an average of 29 particles per litre.
“It’s incredibly sad but finding microplastics in fresh Antarctic snow highlights the extent of plastic pollution into even the most remote regions of the world,” according to PhD student Alex Aves, who was conducting the study.
According to the study, published in the scientific journal The Cryosphere, the researchers identified at least 13 different types of plastic in the samples, with 79% samples showing presence of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is most commonly used in “soft-drink bottles and clothing”, the BBC said,
Microplastics are ubiquitous in the environment and can be found in marine animals to drinking water, though the World Health Organization has said there’s insufficient information to draw firm conclusions about how toxic they are for people and more research is needed.
“The most likely source of these airborne microplastics is local scientific research stations,” according to Aves. “However, modelling shows their origin could have been up to 6,000km (3,700 miles) away.”
“A major study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last year said microplastics are spiralling across the globe, often transported by dusts, wind and ocean currents”, the BBC report said.
The small particles - almost invisible to the human eye - can be toxic to the indigenous plants and animals. In icy surfaces, they can also lead to localised warming by absorbing sunlight.