Remote areas not immune to plastic pollution

People enjoying the air as they walk in remote mountain ranges are still at risk of inhaling tiny pieces of plastic, according to a study by Scottish and French researchers.

Scientists working in a remote region of the Pyrenees on the border between France and Spain found an average of 365 tiny plastic fragments for every square metre.

The microplastics detected were less than 5mm long, with many invisible to the naked eye, and are likely to have been blown to the secluded spot by winds.

The researchers were unable to determine the exact distances that the fragments had travelled, but analysis suggested it was a minimum of 60 miles. They collected samples from a field site in the Pyrenees, four miles from the nearest village and 75 miles from the city of Toulouse.

The area is considered to be pristine, untouched wilderness due to a lack of development, its inaccessibility and distance from major cities and industrial centres.

The study, a collaboration between the University of Strathclyde and the French National Research Centre at the University of Toulouse.