Departamento de Química, Unidad Departamental de Química Analítica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, s/n. 38206, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain; Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, s/n. 38206, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain.
Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, s/n. 38206, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain; Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Forense y Legal y Parasitología, Área de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Ingeniería, Sección de Náutica, Máquinas y Radioelectrónica Naval, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Vía Auxiliar Paso Alto, 2. 38001, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 15;873:162276. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162276. Epub 2023 Feb 19.
Human activities have introduced high amounts of microplastics (MPs) into the atmosphere that can be transported long distances and be later deposited in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems with precipitation (rain or snow). In this work, it has been assessed the presence of MPs in the snow of El Teide National Park (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 2150-3200 m above sea level) after two storm episodes (January-February 2021). The data set (63 samples) was divided into three groups: i) samples from "accessible areas" (after the first storm episode and in places with a strong previous/recent anthropogenic activity); ii) "pristine areas" (after the second storm episode, in places with no previous anthropogenic activity), and iii) "climbing areas" (after the second storm episode, in places with a soft recent anthropogenic activity). Similar pattern profiles were observed among sampling sites in terms of morphology, colour and size (predominance of blue and black microfibers of 250-750 μm length), as well as in composition (predominance of cellulosic -either natural or semisynthetic-, with a 62.7 %, polyester, 20.9 %, and acrylic, 6.3 %, microfibers); however, significant differences in MPs concentrations were found between samples collected in pristine areas (average concentration of 51 ± 72 items/L) and those obtained in places with a previous anthropogenic activity (average concentration of 167 ± 104 and 188 ± 164 items/L in "accessible areas" and "climbing areas", respectively). This study shows, for the first time, the presence of MPs in snow samples from a high altitude protected area on an insular territory and suggests that the sources of these contaminants could be atmospheric transport and local human outdoor activities.
人类活动已经向大气中引入了大量的微塑料（MPs），这些微塑料可以被远距离输送，并随着降水（雨或雪）最终沉积在陆地和水生生态系统中。在这项工作中，评估了在两次风暴事件（2021 年 1 月至 2 月）后，特内里费岛（西班牙加那利群岛，海拔 2150-3200 米）泰德国家公园的雪样中是否存在 MPs。数据集（63 个样本）分为三组：i）来自“可进入区域”的样本（第一次风暴事件后，在有强烈先前/近期人为活动的地方）；ii）“原始区域”的样本（第二次风暴事件后，在没有先前人为活动的地方），和 iii）“登山区域”的样本（第二次风暴事件后，在近期人为活动较弱的地方）。在形态、颜色和大小方面（以 250-750 μm 长度为主的蓝色和黑色微纤维），以及在组成方面（以纤维素为主——天然或半合成——占 62.7%，聚酯占 20.9%，丙烯腈纤维占 6.3%），采样点之间观察到相似的模式分布，但在原始区域采集的样本（平均浓度为 51±72 个/L）和在有先前人为活动的地方采集的样本（在“可进入区域”和“登山区域”的平均浓度分别为 167±104 和 188±164 个/L）之间，发现 MPs 浓度存在显著差异。本研究首次在一个岛屿领土上的高海拔保护区的雪样中发现了 MPs 的存在，并表明这些污染物的来源可能是大气传输和当地人类户外活动。
