AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

Japanese Scientists Find Microplastics in the Clouds Above Mount Fuji

Yale Environment 360
Fri, September 29, 2023 


After sampling the skies over two Japanese mountains, scientists have found microplastics in the clouds.

The finding underscores the extent to which the small particles have invaded nearly every part of the Earth, where they can harm living creatures and even potentially influence the climate, the researchers from several Japanese universities wrote in a paper in Environmental Chemistry Letters.

The researchers collected samples of cloud water above Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, and Mount Oyama over several months. Using advanced imaging techniques, they identified nine different plastic polymers, along with some rubber.

Their presence in clouds is especially concerning, the researchers wrote, because some of the microplastics they found had molecular structures that could help to seed clouds, spurring them to produce ice or water. The particles could also contribute to cloud formation, which would affect their cooling impact on the Earth.

Microplastics have previously been found in oceans, rivers, and even in the lungs of wild birds. They take centuries to decompose, which makes them a growing threat to most ecosystems as humans continue to use and discard plastic. Discovering microplastics in the lowest layer of the atmosphere — where clouds form — is further evidence of the ubiquitousness of microplastics.

According to a statement about the study from Waseda University, these microplastics could also fall to the ground and infiltrate even more areas of the globe.

“Microplastics may have become an essential component of clouds, contaminating nearly everything we eat and drink via ‘plastic rainfall,’” the statement reads.

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Microplastics Are Filling the Skies. Will They Affect the Climate?


Japanese study detects microplastics in clouds, potentially altering the climate

Matthew Rozsa

SALON
Thu, September 28, 2023

Storm Cloud Over A Farm Getty Images/sakchai vongsasiripat

No one wants to imagine giant cloud filled with plastic raining crud water all over them. Unfortunately, that is increasingly becoming reality, according to a recent study published in the journal Environmental Chemistry Letters. A team of Japanese scientists analyzed cloud water sampled at Mount Fuij and other Japanese mountains summits from 1300 to 3776 meters in altitude to search for microplastics. A microplastic is defined as a plastic particle that is five millimeters or less across or in length. Plastic pollution has been linked to cancer, infertility, immune diseases and inflammatory bowel disease. Microplastics are so pervasive that they appear in the fish and other foods we eat, the water we drink, in countless common household products and even in our blood.

Apparently microplastics are also, quite literally, in the clouds, yet another reminder that human influence on our planet extends to the trenches of the oceans and far out into orbit around Earth.

"Our finding suggest that high-altitude microplastics cloud influence cloud formation and, in turn, might modify the climate," the authors write. Considering that more than 10 million tons of plastic will be dumped into the ocean from land every year, it is perhaps unsurprising that the scientists found most of the airborne microplastics originated from the ocean, based on their backward trajectory analysis. They noted that their study was the first to officially discover airborne microplastics in cloud water both in the atmospheric boundary layer and in the free troposphere.

Scientists make disturbing discovery while researching river plastic: ‘The broader implications are still an open question’

Sara Klimek
Sat, September 30, 2923



The human health risks from microplastics have long been documented in scientific literature and include disruption to numerous bodily systems, including the endocrine (hormones), immune, and reproductive systems. Recent research has revealed how pervasive microplastics can be in the environment and the new potential risks to rivers and aquatic ecosystems.

What’s happening?

Research published in Communications Earth & Environment reveals that microplastics in the environment may increase sediment erosion in waterways. Since microplastics are less dense than sediment, like silt and sand, they can bombard the bottoms and sides of the river and cause more sediment to move downstream.

“The study shows that plastic is not a passively transported component of river systems,” said project team member Roberto Fernández. “It interacts with the sediment and plays an active role in riverbed transport processes and erosion.”

When the sediment moves downriver, it can change buildup and make the water more shallow. This, in turn, increases the water’s temperature, which affects the rates at which certain species of fish and aquatic animals can spawn.

Outside of the erosion, microplastics also impact the environment by carrying toxic compounds, like bisphenol A (BPA), that are leached from the plastic as it breaks down. These chemicals become embedded in the soil, in the tap water that we drink, and in the fish that circulate and feed in affected waters.

Why is it important?

Researchers are especially concerned with the interaction between microplastics and riparian ecosystems because of how microplastics are added to the environment. Scientists estimate that there are 10 times more microplastics in the ocean now than in 2005 — and it’s only expected to worsen as consumerism increases.

Fernández noted that the nature of this relationship isn’t just exclusive to rivers. It may also become more pervasive in estuaries (salt and fresh water) and smaller waterways, too. “The broader implications are still an open question, but the local effects are likely to be the same,” he said.

What’s being done about it?

The next step of the research will analyze and model the extent to which microplastics impact sediment pollution in waterways. The goals of the following research phase include determining how much plastic is needed to cause a significant impact and assessing other processes that may be worsened.