Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow… plastic?
A new technique allows the detection of tiny plastic particles in snow, rain and even soil.
The snow may have melted, but it's leaving behind pollution in the form of micro- and nanoplastics, according to a McGill study recently published in Environmental Pollution. The pollution is largely due to the relatively soluble plastics in antifreeze (polyethylene glycols) that are suspended in the air and can be picked up by the snow.
The researchers used a new technique they developed to analyze snow samples collected in Montreal in April 2019 for both micro- and nano-sized particles of various plastics. The McGill technique is orders of magnitude more sensitive than any other method currently used to detect plastics in the environment. It allows scientists to detect ultratrace amounts of many of the most common soluble and insoluble plastics in snow, water, precipitation, and even soil samples after they have been separated - down to the level of a picogram (or a trillionth of a gram). The method is based on the use of nanostructure mass spectrometry and, unlike other techniques currently in use, is both recyclable and based on sustainable practices.
"It is important to be able to detect even trace amounts of plastics in the environment," says senior author Parisa Ariya of McGill's departments of chemistry and atmospheric and ocean sciences. "Although these plastics can be harmless in themselves, they can pick up toxic organics and heavy metals from the environment that can damage human cells and organs."
First author Zi Wang, a doctoral student at McGill, adds, "Our hope is that this new technique can be used by scientists in various fields to gain important information about the amount of micro- and nanoplastics in urban environments to better address their impact on the ecosystem and human health."
Source: Chemie.de – Es schneit Plastik
Image source: Wikimedia Commons: Jürgen Hamann – Starker Schneefall