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The emerging issue of microplastics: ongoing investigation in water and sediments of subalpine lakes
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This Italian study identified microplastics in subalpine lakes and characterized their polymer types and abundance, adding to evidence that microplastics have reached even remote freshwater ecosystems far from industrial centers. The findings underscore the ubiquity of plastic contamination across diverse freshwater environments.
Widespreading presence of microplastics in aquatic environments is of increasing ecological concern because of their chemical persistence and their potential effects in biota. Most studies have been focused on marine environments and only a few investigations have been performed on microplastics in freshwater ecosystems. The present work is addressed at identifying the different microplastic polymer types and to characterize their occurrence, features, fate, and the evolution of their abundance in four South-Alpine lakes (Iseo, Idro, Ledro, Garda) in Northern Italy. To achieve this goal, microplastics will be sampled from sediment cores collected from two different locations for each lake. In addition, water samples will be collected at different depth along the water column and analyzed for the presence of microplastics. As these lakes are characterized by different features in relation to watershed extension, hydrological characteristics and human impacts, their study can provide a useful framework to assess the occurrence of microplastics as related to environmental variability. This investigation will provide first insights on the role of lakes as possible “sink” of microplastics, through an accumulation and segregation in deep sediments, or as a “source”, due to a possible preferential distribution in the water column in relation to climate-related turnover patterns that could again bring large amounts of particles to the surface layers. The samples will be analyzed with innovative techniques (Raman spectroscopy and FTIR), which will allow the polymer identification of very small particles. This project will contribute to fill the knowledge gap regarding the abundance and distribution of microplastics in lake ecosystems, and will attempt relating types, occurrence and possible sources of microplastic in the watershed.
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Surface water samples from Italian subalpine lakes were found to contain microplastics, including fibers and fragments, at concentrations suggesting atmospheric deposition and local tourism as contributing sources. The study extends microplastic monitoring to high-altitude freshwater lakes, showing that even remote mountain water bodies are affected by plastic pollution.
Remote alpine lakes and microplastic contamination: Insights from sediment analysis of lake cadagno
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Researchers investigated microplastic contamination in sediments from remote alpine lakes, environments that serve as sensitive indicators of long-range atmospheric transport and global environmental change. Microplastics were detected even in these isolated high-altitude lakes, confirming that atmospheric deposition delivers plastic particles to ecosystems far from direct human activity.
Altitudinal variation of microplastic abundance in lakeshore sediments from Italian lakes
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Microplastic abundance was measured in lakeshore sediments from Italian lakes across an altitudinal gradient, finding that elevation influenced contamination levels and that even high-altitude lakes in remote areas contained plastic particles.
Remote Alpine Lakes and Microplastic Accumulation: Insights from Sediment Analysis of Lake Cadagno
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Researchers analyzed sediments from remote alpine Lake Cadagno to assess microplastic contamination in an environment far from direct human activity. The study found that even this isolated lake contains microplastics, demonstrating that atmospheric transport and other long-range pathways carry plastic pollution to remote mountain ecosystems.
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Researchers investigated microplastic contamination in eight high-altitude glacier lakes in northeastern Turkey and found plastic particles in both surface water and sediments at every site. The most common polymer types identified were polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene, with concentrations varying significantly between lakes. The findings demonstrate that microplastic pollution has reached even remote mountain ecosystems far from major population centers.
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