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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Its-Snowing-Microscopic-Plastic-Particles-in-Arctic-Study-20190815-0017.html">https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Its-Snowing-Microscopic-Plastic-Particles-in-Arctic-Study-20190815-0017.html</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">It's Snowing Microscopic Plastic
Particles in Arctic<br>
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August 16, 2019</div>
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<p>Winter is around the corner and with falling snowflakes
come microscopic plastic particles, at least that’s what
scientists say is happening in the Arctic right now in a
new study published in the journal Science Advances.</p>
<blockquote>
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href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Sherpas-Cleaning-Up-Everest-Unearth-11-Tons-of-Trash-4-Bodies-20190605-0027.html"
target="_blank">Sherpas Cleaning Up Everest
Unearth 11 Tons of Trash, 4 Bodies</a></strong></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Over 10,000 particles of plastic were found per liter
of snow in the Arctic, the study conducted by a team of
German-Swiss researchers said.</p>
<p>Rubber particles and fibres were also detected in the
freshly fallen snow samples collected from the Svalbard
islands using low-tech equipment: a spoon and a canning
jar.</p>
<p>These were transported to the Alfred Wegener Institute
in Bremerhaven, Germany. According to the study, the
particles were so small, it was difficult to determine
their origin. Traces of plastic, rubber, varnish, paint,
and possibly synthetic fibers — all smaller than 5 mm —
were found mixed with plant cellulose and animal fur.</p>
<p>"It's readily apparent that the majority of the
microplastic in the snow comes from the air,” lead
scientist Melanie Bergmann told BBC News.</p>
<p>"We expected to find some contamination but to find
this many microplastics was a real shock," she said,
adding that the team doesn't know "if the plastics will
be harmful to human health or not. But we need to take
much better care of the way we're treating our
environment."</p>
<p>Other snow samples gathered from Germany and
Switzerland show even higher concentrations of plastic
than those from the Arctic.</p>
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