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Plastic snowfall in the Alps by Staff Writers Dubendorf, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
In a new study, Empa researcher Dominik Brunner, together with colleagues from Utrecht University and the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, is investigating how much plastic is trickling down on us from the atmosphere. According to the study, some nanoplastics travel over 2000 kilometers through the air. According to the figures from the measurements about 43 trillion miniature plastic particles land in Switzerland every year. Researchers still disagree on the exact number. But according to estimates from the study, it could be as much as 3,000 tonnes of nanoplastics that cover Switzerland every year, from the remote Alps to the urban lowlands. These estimates are very high compared to other studies, and more research is needed to verify these numbers The study is uncharted scientific territory because the spread of nanoplastics through the air is still largely unexplored. The result of Brunner's research is the most accurate record of air pollution by nanoplastics ever made. To count the plastic particles, Brunner and his colleagues have developed a chemical method that determines the contamination of the samples with a mass spectrometer.
Extreme conditions Every day, and in all weather conditions, scientists removed a part of the top layer of snow around a marker at 8 AM and carefully stored it. Contamination of the samples by nanoplastics in the air or on the scientists' clothes was a particular challenge. In the laboratory, the researchers sometimes had to remain motionless when a colleague handled an open sample. The origin of the tiny particles was traced with the help of European wind and weather data. The researchers could show that the greatest emission of nanoplastics into the atmosphere occurs in densely populated, urban areas. About 30% of the nanoplastic particles measured on the mountain top originate from a radius of 200 kilometers, mainly from cities. However, plastics from the world's oceans apparently also get into the air via the spray of the waves. Around 10% of the particles measured in the study were blown onto the mountain by wind and weather over 2000 kilometers - some of them from the Atlantic.
Nanoparticles in the bloodstream Besides plastics, there are all kinds of other tiny particles. From Sahara sand to brake pads, the world is buzzing through the air as abrasion. It is as yet unclear whether this kind of air pollution poses a potential health threat to humans. Nanoparticles, unlike microparticles, do not just end up in the stomach. They are sucked deep into the lungs through respiration, where their size may allow them to cross the cell-blood barrier and enter the human bloodstream. Whether this is harmful or even dangerous, however, remains to be researched.
Research Report: "Nanoplastics transport to the remote, high-altitude Alps"
Oil spill tars Peruvian seaside towns, leaves fishermen jobless Ancon, Peru (AFP) Jan 23, 2022 Thousands of barrels of crude oil that were spilled off Peru's central coast have taken a grim toll: dead birds adrift in the sea and irate fishermen stuck on the docks. Some 6,000 barrels poured into the sea as an oil tanker unloaded a week ago at the La Pampilla refinery located some 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Lima. According to Spanish oil company Repsol, which owns the refinery, the accident occurred due to freak waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga. For fisherman Berna ... read more
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