Prompt Report
Microplastics in rime-ice observed at a remote mountain
2022 Volume 84 Issue 1 Pages 29-37
Details
2022 Volume 84 Issue 1 Pages 29-37
Microplastics (MPs) have been found not only atmospheric deposition in urban areas, but also the snow obtained from Mt. Everest and Arctic, sediments in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.
However, the pathway of the MPs to the atmosphere has not been clear. Here, we collected rime-ice and snowpack samples at Mt. Karakunidake in winter season to clarify the existence of atmospheric MPs deposition in rime-ice and snowpack, using FTIR imaging. MPs were detected in the range of 8.34×106 m－3 to 12.3×106 m－3 in rime-ice, and 1.34×106 m－3 in snowpack. The concentration of MPs in rime-ice was about 10 times higher than that in snowpack. The particle size distribution of MPs in rime-ice showed more than 90.1 % of MPs were present below 100 µm fraction, and most of them were fragments. The predominant plastic found in the samples is polyethylene (as fragments). Mt. Karakunidake is isolated from the impact of human activities. This indicates that MPs can be transported from other area.
