Microplastic traced to 'clean' air of European mountains baffles scientists

The menace of plastics is something that has spared no region of the planet as they can be found in the deepest of ocean trenches and even high altitude places like Mount Everest. However, a new study has revealed that plastics can even mix in the air and travel to places no one can predict. The shocking discovery was made by the French national research institute scientists who analysed the air quality at the Pic du Midi Observatory in the French Pyrenees and found traces of microplastics.

How do plastics get in the air?

The scientists arrived at the conclusion after they reportedly sampled 10,000 cubic meters of air between June and October of 2017 at an altitude of 2,877 meters above sea level. The French Pyrenees was chosen as the location as it is called a “clean station” since it is the only area least impacted by environmental pollution. Analysis of the air samples revealed that all of them were contaminated by microplastics despite being at a higher altitude. The term microplastics is used for fragments that are less than 5 mm in size and can emerge from any form of material having plastic as its constituent.

Revealing how the microplastics were able to reach such far-fetched places, the study authors noted that their rise to higher altitudes is what allows them to travel across the world. Steve Allen of Canada's Dalhousie University and the lead author said as per The Guardian, that once the microplastics reach high, they flow effortlessly as the Stratosphere above is like a "superfast highway". Calling the marine sources 'interesting', Allen said that the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean are also a massive sources of microplastics.

"Plastic leaving the ocean into the air that high – it shows there is no eventual sink for this plastic. It’s just moving around and around in an indefinite cycle", The Guardian reported him saying. Deonie Allen, the study's co-author, however, noted that the level of microplastics in the Pyrenees does not pose a health risk although they are small enough for humans to breathe in. She further added that the presence of microplastics in regions as clean as the Pyrenees questions the relationship humans have with plastics.