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Fibers spreading worldwide: Microplastics and other anthropogenic litter in an Arctic freshwater lake
Summary
Microplastics and other anthropogenic fibers were found in the sediments of an Arctic freshwater lake at Ny-Alesund in Svalbard, with polyester fibers confirmed by synchrotron infrared spectroscopy at concentrations of about 90 microplastics per square meter of rock surface. The findings demonstrate that plastic fiber pollution reaches even remote polar lakes, most likely transported by atmosphere.
We investigated the presence of microplastics and other anthropogenic litter in the sediments adhered to rocks of an Arctic freshwater lake at Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard Archipelago, 78°N; 11°E). Most of the sampled microparticles were fibers (>90%). The identification of polymer types and additives was performed by combining three spectroscopic techniques, namely Raman Microscopy, Fourier-Transform Infrared microspectroscopy (μFTIR) and Synchrotron Radiation μFTIR (SR-FTIR). SR-FTIR confirmed the presence of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers, while RAMAN spectroscopy provided evidence of fibers containing industrial additives. Our results estimated an average concentration of 400 microparticles/m of rocks identified as anthropogenic litter, which included an estimation of 90 microplastics/m identified as polyester fibers; the rest are mostly natural fibers with evidence of anthropogenic origin. Taken together, the results proved the occurrence of anthropogenic pollutants in remote polar areas. Their probable origin is the long range atmospheric transport.