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Microplastics in glaciers of Tibetan Plateau: Characteristics and potential sources

The Science of The Total Environment 2024 11 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 60 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Yulan Zhang, Xi Luo, Qiangqiang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Shichang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Xi Luo, Zhaoqing Wang, Xi Luo, Zhaoqing Wang, Zhaoqing Wang, Yulan Zhang, Qiangqiang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Shichang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Zhaoqing Wang, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Xi Luo, Shichang Kang, Tanguang Gao, Shichang Kang, Pengfei Chen, Yulan Zhang, Tanguang Gao, Yulan Zhang, Xi Luo, Shichang Kang, Xi Luo, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Zhaoqing Wang, Shichang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Shichang Kang, Tanguang Gao, Shichang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Yulan Zhang, Xi Luo, Xi Luo, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Junming Guo, Zhaoqing Wang, Zhaoqing Wang, Zhaoqing Wang, Zhaoqing Wang, Zhaoqing Wang, Qiangqiang Kang, Tanguang Gao, Shichang Kang, Xi Luo, Xi Luo, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Junming Guo, Zhaoqing Wang, Xi Luo, Xi Luo, Tanguang Gao, Qiangqiang Kang, Xi Luo, Yulan Zhang, Pengfei Chen, Xi Luo, Junming Guo, Tanguang Gao, Pengfei Chen, Pengfei Chen, Xi Luo, Junming Guo, Xi Luo, Xi Luo, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Pengfei Chen, Junming Guo, Junming Guo, Junming Guo, Zhaofu Hu Zhaofu Hu, Qiangqiang Kang, Zhaofu Hu, Zhaofu Hu Zhaofu Hu, Zhaofu Hu Zhaofu Hu, Zhengzheng Yang, Zhaofu Hu Zhengzheng Yang, Yulan Zhang, Tanguang Gao, Huijun Zheng, Zhengzheng Yang, Zhengzheng Yang, Pengfei Chen, Zhengzheng Yang, Zhengzheng Yang, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Tanguang Gao, Wei Yang, Zhaofu Hu, Zhaofu Hu

Summary

Researchers found microplastics in glaciers across the Tibetan Plateau, one of the most remote regions on Earth, with an average of about 339 particles per liter of snow. The plastics likely traveled through the atmosphere from distant populated areas, showing that microplastic pollution is truly global. Since these glaciers feed major rivers that supply drinking water to billions of people in Asia, this contamination has direct implications for human health.

Polymers

PA PE

Microplastics (MPs) in glaciers of remote areas are a hot topic linking the global transport of atmospheric MPs. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) holds large volume of glaciers, providing an effective way to trace MPs transport. Moreover, MPs in glaciers may have adverse effects on the local ecosystem and human health. In this study, we investigate MPs in snowpits collected from six glaciers across the different domain of the TP. The average abundance of MPs in six snowpits is 339.22 ± 51.85 items L (with size ≥10 μm) measured by Agilent 8700 Laser Direct Infrared Chemical Imaging System (LDIR), represented by relatively high MPs abundance in the southern TP and low in the northern TP. The polymers with lower density, namely polyethylene (PE), polyamide (PA), and rubber, are the main MPs types, which are predominated by fragments with sizes smaller than 100 μm in each snowpit. Sources of MPs on glaciers include local tourism and vehicle traffic emissions of MPs. Meanwhile, long-range atmospheric transport of MPs from surrounded regions cannot be ignored. Backward trajectory analysis indicates cross-boundary transport of atmospheric MPs from South Asia play an important role on MPs deposited onto TP glaciers. Analysis further reveals that MPs in glaciers are associated with atmospheric mineral dust deposition. This study provides new data for the investigation of MPs in glaciers of remote areas, and a reference for studying MPs in the ice cores of TP glaciers.

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