The pristine peak of Mount Everest is now littered witheverything from oxygen cannisters, dead bodies to now microplastics!
Scientists studying plastic pollution on Mount Everest havediscovered microplastics as high as 8,440 metres up the mountain, just 400metres below the peak.
"It really surprised me to find microplastics in everysingle snow sample I analysed," said study lead author Imogen Napper, aNational Geographic explorer and marine scientist from the University ofPlymouth in the U.K. "Mount Everest is somewhere I have always consideredremote and pristine."
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Some were present in samples from the Balcony of MountEverest representing the highest recorded microplastics ever found on Earth.
¡°With microplastics so ubiquitous in our environment, it¡¯stime to focus on appropriate environmental solutions,¡± she said. ¡°We need toprotect and care for our planet.¡±
Many microplastics are shed from clothing made fromsynthetic fabrics, and she said a focus on better fabrics was needed, as wellas using natural fibres such as cotton when possible.
The study, published in the journal One Earth, was led byresearchers from the University of Plymouth, working with colleagues from theUK, US and Nepal.
According to reports, it is also possible the plastics couldhave been transported from lower altitudes by the extreme winds that regularlyimpact the mountain's higher slopes.
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The highest quantities - 79 microplastic fibres per litre ofsnow - were found at Base Camp, where expeditions are based for periods of upto 40 days?
However, evidence was also found at Camps 1 and 2 on theclimbing route, with 12 microplastic fibres per litre of snow recorded from theBalcony.
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In marine life as well as in birds, microplastics have beenshown to block digestive tracts, which can in turn stunt development or inworst cases lead to starvation.
People also consume microplastics via food andwater, and breathe them in, although the health impact is not yet known, reports The Guardian.?