News Climate

Tiny microplastics travel far on the wind

The deposition of airborne plastic bits in far-flung, remote places may rival that of cities

a photo of the Pyrenees Mountains

FAR-FLUNG TRASH  Researchers measured an atmospheric deposition rate of microplastics at a remote site in the Pyrenees Mountains (shown) that was similar to rates measured within Paris. 

G. Le Roux

By Carolyn Gramling

- More than 2 years ago

Plastic pollution from Paris doesn’t necessarily stay in Paris.

Tiny bits of plastic that originated in cities were carried by wind to a remote mountain location at least 95 kilometers away, a study finds.