Scientists found microplastics in Sierra snowpacks

San Francisco Chronicle / March 18, 2023

Scientists have found microplastics in snowpacks across the Sierra Nevada, a jarring discovery that may help California regulators better understand how the polluting particles are entering the state's drinking water supply.

The preliminary findings also indicate that microplastics — tiny fragments shed from synthetic clothing, food packaging and tires — are so widely dispersed that they have found their way to some of the most remote and pristine parts of the California landscape, a troubling development as scientists race to understand their long-term health impacts.

SNIP

Scientists have theories about how microplastics are getting into Sierra snowpacks. The wind may sweep the particles from the ocean to the clouds, where they attach to rain and snow. Another potential culprit is exhaust from clothes dryers, which spew synthetic fibers like nylon and rayon from clothing into the air. A third possibility is that plastics enter the atmosphere as items like tarps, plastic water bottles and industrial paints disintegrate from exposure to the elements.

A combination of sources is likely, (Monica) Arienzo said (Arienzo is a professor of hydrologic sciences at the Desert Research Institute in Reno).

LINK (paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/sierra-snow-microplastics-drinking-water-17840942.php

FROM THE LINK:

• Early research has shown that the small fragments of microplastics in drinking water can pile up in animals’ bloodstreams and organs, where they can cause cell damage.

• Steps to help reduce plastic pollution in the atmosphere:
-- install dryer filters to prevent microplastic particles from escaping with exhaust
-- limiting single-use plastics
-- participating in coastal cleanup days.

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If microplastics are getting in the Sierra snowpack, they're getting in everywhere.