MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian scientists are trying to understand the scale of a potential threat to the environment in Siberia: snow polluted with microplastics that then melts and seeps into the ground.
Scientists at Tomsk State University (TSU) say they have collected snow samples from 20 different regions of Siberia – from the Altai Mountains to the Arctic – and that their preliminary findings confirm that airborne plastic fibers are appearing in the snow in remote parts of the jungle.
“It is clear that it is not just rivers and seas that are involved in the circulation of microplastics around the world, but also soil, living creatures and even the atmosphere,” said Yulia Frank, scientific director of TSU’s Siberian Microplastics center, to the Reuters.
Microplastics, which are created when larger pieces of plastic waste break down over time, are increasingly being found in air, food, drinking water and even in arctic ice. Scientists are increasingly concerned that they may pose a risk to human health and marine life, although there is still no consensus on the subject.
Scientists in Tomsk had previously found microplastics in the digestive system of fish caught in Siberian rivers, confirming that they are contributing to polluting the Arctic Ocean with plastic.
“Siberia is absolutely under-researched in this regard and our interest (in Russia) in this problem comes late compared to the rest of the world,” said Frank.
Scientists are now studying snow samples to understand the extent to which population density, proximity to roads and other human activities contribute to pollution.
Reporting by Dmitry Turlyun; Written by Maria Vasilyeva; Edition by Alex Richardson