Microplastic pollution is occurring in most ecosystem, yet their presence in high altitude clouds and their influence on cloud formation and climate change are poorly known. Here we analyzed microplastics in cloud water sampled at the summits of Japan mountains at 1300–3776 m altitude by attenuated total reflection imaging and micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. We observed nine microplastics including polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, polyamide 6, polycarbonate, ethylene–propylene copolymer or polyethylene–polypropylene alloy, polyurethane, and epoxy resin. Microplastic were fragmented, with mean concentrations ranging from 6.7 to 13.9 pieces per liter, and with Feret diameters ranging from 7.1 to 94.6 μm. Microplastics bearing hydrophilic groups such as carbonyl and/or hydroxyl groups were abundant, suggesting that they might have acted as condensation nuclei of cloud ice and water. Overall, our finding suggest that high-altitude microplastics cloud influence cloud formation and, in turn, might modify the climate.
Over the past decades, the plastic production has been dramatically increased. Indeed, a category of small plastic particles mainly with the shapes of fragments, fibers, or spheres, called microplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm) and nanoplastics (particles smaller than 1 μm) have attracted particular attention. Because of its wide distribution in the environment and potential adverse effects to animal and human, microplastic pollution has been reported as a serious environment problem receiving increased attention in recent years. As one of the commonly detected emerging contaminants in the environment, recent evidence indicates that the concentration of microplastics show an increasing trend, for the reason that up to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic litter is released into aquatic environment from land-based sources each year. Furthermore, microplastic exposure levels of model organisms in laboratory studies are usually several orders of magnitude higher than those found in environment, and the microplastics exposure conditions are also different with those observed in the environment. Additionally, the detection of microplastics in feces indicates that they can be excreted out of the bodies of animal and human. Hence, great uncertainties might exist in microplastics exposure and health risk assessment based on current studies, which might be exaggerated. Policies reduce microplastic emission sources and hence minimize their environmental risks are determined. To promote the above policies, we must first overcome the technical obstacles of detecting microplastics in various samples. 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The consumption of fossil energy is the major cause of environmental pollution. Effectively reducing the fossil energy use has important significance... 相似文献
随着3S(RS、GIS、GPS)技术的快速发展,其在地震领域上的应用已引起国内外研究机构和学者的广泛关注。以Web of Science核心数据集为文献源,检索2000-2019年3S技术应用于地震领域的文献,利用Citespace可视化分析软件进行文献分析,通过探究研究主题及研究热点的演变趋势,总结分析了当前研究前沿。研究结果表明,3S技术应用于地震领域涉及到了多个交叉学科及方向,体现出地震领域的研究具有广泛性和综合性的特点;通过聚类分析,发现可划分为8个知识群组,形成了以"地震案例"与"板块运动"为主的两条演化路径;关键词分析表明"合成孔径雷达应用"、"模型反演","滑动分布研究"成为近几年的研究热点,并趋向于多样化的趋势发展。 相似文献