Even in the Pyrenees’ apparently cleanest area, a new study reveals pollution; yet, the study’s findings have little bearing on human health.
Over the course of five months, the researchers gathered samples from an isolated mountain stream in the French Pyrenees.
A new research has shown that microplastic rains down on even the most distant mountaintops, with winds capable of transporting the pollution “everywhere and everywhere”.
Despite the Pyrenees Mountains’ reputation as a pure area, experts were shocked to see so much microplastic raining down from the sky. For the first time in history, scientists have discovered microscopic plastic particles just about everywhere they look.
Some other recent investigations have shown microscopic plastic in agriculture soils and waterways around China’s Shanghai, in the Galápagos Islands, a Unesco world heritage site, as well as in the Czech Republic. Despite the fact that humans and other animals are known to ingest small plastic particles via food and water, the possible health impacts on individuals and ecosystems are yet unclear.
But Steve Allen, a researcher at EcoLab in Toulouse who led the latest studies in the Pyrenees and who stated, “If it is going to be an issue, it is going to be a very huge one,” remarked. There isn’t a living thing on this planet that isn’t vulnerable to this.”
Every year, 335 million metric tonnes of plastic are manufactured, and although it degrades slowly, it may be broken down into ever-smaller fragments. Only two earlier studies, one in Paris, France, and the other in Dongguan, China, looked at microplastic pollution in the air, although the prevalence of this pollution in rivers and seas is now widely documented. Particles were falling at a consistent rate for both of them.
It’s the first research to demonstrate microplastic rains down as heavily in distant areas and travels large distances by the wind, according to Nature Communications. There were no nearby villages, towns, or cities within 120 miles of the Pyrenees where the researchers took samples because they were too far away from potential sources of plastic garbage.
A plastic fibre reversed in appearance. Because of their small size, microplastics may move through the air and land in places far from where they originated. Natural History Museum/Nature
365 plastic particles, fibres, and films were detected per square metre per day, according to the researchers. According to Allen, the number of particles detected is “astonishing and worrisome.”
According to Deonie Allen, a member of the EcoLab team, “it is equivalent to what was discovered in the centre of Paris and Dongguan, and both are megacities where a lot of pollution is anticipated.” It is possible for microplastics to be found everywhere since we were on the top of a distant mountain and there is no nearby source.
Wind intensity was linked to the amount of microplastic rain, and data analysis indicated that microplastics might travel 100 kilometres in the air. Modeling, on the other hand, shows that they have a lot more potential. The wind has already transported Saharan desert dust hundreds of kilometres.
Polystyrene and polyethylene, two of the most prevalent microplastics, were detected in single-use packaging and plastic bags. In summer, when the weather is drier, more microplastic may fall from the ground because of the wind’s ability to pull particles off of the ground.
Every marine animal investigated in a new UK study included microplastics, which have been proven to damage marine life when they are mistaken for food. In October, they were found in tap water in Europe, Japan, and Russia, where they had been ingested by humans.
According to some researchers, humans may be inhaling microplastic particles, which may readily absorb hazardous chemicals and serve as a breeding ground for deadly germs. A recent study reveals that airborne microplastics are a real possibility.
“We don’t know what they do when you get down to respiratory small particles,” said Deonie Allen. There’s no way we want it to end up like asbestos, because that’s a huge uncertainty. “Candidate agents adding to the risk of lung cancer” are plastic fibres that have been identified in human lung tissue, experts say.
There is little doubt that the new Pyrenees study by Professor Stefan Krause, who was not involved in it, is convincing: “These results certainly underline the need for further extensive investigations.”
Indeed, “we are just beginning to comprehend [microplastic contamination],” he added. For the first time, Krause is spearheading a worldwide study of microplastics in freshwater ecosystems via a project dubbed 100 Plastic Rivers. Toxic chemicals and microorganisms may be carried by particles, he noted, and they can damage soil and crop production.
