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The utility of monitoring snow for microplastics in the Arctic: a pilot study from Iqaluktuuttiaq, Nunavut
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Researchers collected Arctic snow samples at increasing distances from the community of Iqaluktuuttiaq, Nunavut, finding microplastics at every location using pyrolysis–GC/MS analysis. Polymer types differed between sites close to the community and more remote sites, suggesting both local human activity and long-range atmospheric transport contribute to contamination. The findings support using snow as a low-cost monitoring tool to track how microplastics reach even remote polar regions.
Plastic pollution, including microplastics (<5 mm) has been identified as an emerging contaminant of Arctic concern and has been observed in wildlife, water, sediment, air, and snow. Because snow is relatively easy to sample and process for microplastics, it may be a useful compartment to monitor to assess patterns of microplastic contamination in polar regions. Microplastics can enter the Arctic through both long-range transport pathways and from local sources. By sampling snow across spatial scales, and multiple distances from local communities, researchers can explore local and distant sources of microplastics, thereby informing management strategies. With this in mind, we aimed to quantify mass concentrations of microplastics in snow samples collected north-east of Iqaluktuuttiaq, Nunavut. We sampled five sites in a transect moving away from town and quantified microplastics using Pyrolysis/gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. We found microplastics at every location, but patterns along the transect were unclear. We observed differences in polymer types at sampling sites closer to the community compared to sites further away suggesting the presence of local inputs. Overall, we highlight the use of snow as a local monitoring tool to assess contamination and sources of microplastics in the Arctic to inform future long-term monitoring programs.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.