Microplastics and their chemical fall-out have the notoriety of being ‘everywhere’, from the air breathed out by dolphins to evidence of their phthalates in rainwater; so another headline about their ubiquity is hardly surprising, until – that is – they were discovered in one of the most remote places on the planet: the glaciers of the Antarctic.

Scientists conducting routine studies at Union Glacier and Schanz Glacier as well as the South Pole – where the US Antarctic Programme research station is situated – have now confirmed that microplastics down to the size of 11 micrometres (about the size of a red blood cell) have been found in the snow of Antarctica.

Published in a paper this week in the journal Science of the Total Environment, this is not only the first time microplastics have been found in areas this remote from anywhere else in the world, it is the first time such advance in technique has been used to detect their presence.

The findings surprised even the team at the British Antarctic Survey who discovered microplastics at concentrations ranging from 73 to 3,099 particles per litre of snow. Most of the particles discovered (95%) were smaller than 50 micrometres. That’s a size of 0.005 centimetres, the size of most human cells.

This is an important finding because it suggests that previous studies may have underestimated the extent of microplastic pollution in the region, due to less sensitive detection methods.

Previous methods involved hand-picking particles and fibres out of samples for laboratory analyses. The new technique, however, involved melting snow through filter paper and scanning it at a high resolution using infrared spectroscopy. This means that any microplastics above 11 macrometres can now be identified. 

“With these developing techniques, we’re now able to analyse microplastics of a much smaller size than before,” said Dr Emily Rowlands, a marine ecologist at British Antarctic Survey and co-author of the paper. “In fact, we found microplastic abundance in these snow samples to be 100 times higher than in previous studies of Antarctic snow samples.”

Across the three sampling sites, the most commonly found plastics were polyamide (those used in textiles), polyethylene terephthalate (found in bottles and packaging), polyethylene, and synthetic rubber. While textiles plastic accounted for over half of the microplastics the researchers found and was discovered in all the samples taken close to field camps, it was not found – rather interestingly – at the remote ‘control’ site.

“We think this means there are local sources of plastic pollution, at least when it comes to polyamide,” said Dr Clara Manno, an ocean ecologist at the British Antarctic Survey. “This could come from outdoor clothing, or the ropes and flags that are used to mark safe routes in and around the camp.

“We need to do more research to fully understand the sources of microplastic pollution in Antarctica – how much of it is local, and how much is transported over long distances so we can explore how best to reduce this plastic pollution in one of the most pristine places on Earth.”

The broader implications of these most recent findings are not yet fully understood. Some researchers suggest that microplastics could affect the snow’s albedo (which is how much light it reflects) or how quickly it melts. It could also, from here, be transported to areas of ecological importance.

Microplastics have already been detected in several penguin, seal, and fish species while one recent study from the British Antarctic Survey revealed that microplastics could also be reducing the amount of carbon that is transported to the seafloor by tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill.

“Despite stringent regulations on materials entering Antarctica, our findings reveal microplastic contamination even in remote and highly controlled areas,” said Dr Kirstie Jones-Williams, who carried out the fieldwork at the remote field camps. 

“This underscores the pervasive nature of plastic pollution – demonstrating that nowhere on Earth is truly untouched. Our research highlights the need to leverage existing Antarctic presence for sustained monitoring. As the world seeks accountability through the United Nations Environment Assembly Global Plastics Treaty, regular assessments in such pristine environments could provide critical evidence for policy and action.”

While the research highlights the stark reality that even the most untouched corners of the planet are not free from human plastic, the threat that the issues surrounding them are not being taken seriously enough still looms large.

The current US President Donald Trump has revealed an intention to reverse Joe Biden’s plan to phase out plastic straws across the US government, complaining that paper alternatives don’t work and that a move is needed to go ‘back to plastic’.

It takes aim at an effort by the Biden administration to phase out all single-use plastics across the federal government by 2035. At the time, the White House said it was the first time it was ‘formally acknowledging the severity of the plastic pollution crisis and the scale of the response that will be required to effectively confront it’.

Despite growing recognition of the harm caused by plastic waste and the ubiquity of microplastics today, even now found in human brains, global annual plastic production doubled in the two decades since 2000 to around 460 million tonnes and is expected to quadruple again by 2050. Less than 10% of plastic waste is currently being recycled and a summit among countries last year to address it all failed to come to a deal.

The British Antarctic Survey study – Microplastics in Antarctica – A plastic legacy in the Antarctic snow? is now published in Science of the Total Environment.

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