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. 2021 Jan 18;18(2):768.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18020768.

Microplastic Contamination in Snow from Western Italian Alps

Marco Parolini  1 , Diego Antonioli  2 , Franco Borgogno  3 , Maria Cristina Gibellino  4 , Jacopo Fresta  5 , Carlo Albonico  4 , Beatrice De Felice  1 , Susanna Canuto  3 , Donatella Concedi  4 , Alessandra Romani  4 , Emanuela Rosio  6 , Valentina Gianotti  2 , Michele Laus  2 , Roberto Ambrosini  1 , Roberto Cavallo  5
Affiliations

Microplastic Contamination in Snow from Western Italian Alps

Marco Parolini et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Recent studies have documented the presence of microplastics (MPs) in remote areas, including soils or sediments collected in mountain and glacier environments, but information on their presence in snow is scant. The present study aimed at exploring the presence of MPs in residual snow collected in four locations of the Aosta Valley (Western Italian Alps), with different accessibility and human presence. Overall, the µ-FTIR analyses confirmed the presence of 18 MPs in snow, 7 (39%) items were fibres, while 11 (61%) were fragments. Polyethylene (PE; 7 MPs) was the main polymer, followed by polyethylene terephthalate (PET; 3 MPs), high density PE (HDPE; 3 MPs), polyester (2 MPs), while only 1 MP made by low density PE, polypropylene and polyurethane were found. The mean (± SE) concentration of MPs in snow ranged between 0.39 ± 0.39 MPs/L and 4.91 ± 2.48 MPs/L, with a mean of 2.32 ± 0.96 MPs/L for the sampling locations. The concentration of MPs did not statistically differ among locations. Our results suggest that MPs presence in high-mountain ecosystems might depend on deposition through atmospheric precipitations or local sources due to human activities. For these reasons, policies aiming at reducing plastic use and dispersal in mountain areas may be effective in preventing local MP contamination.

Keywords: Aosta Valley; Italian Alps; MPs; high-mountain; pollution.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of the sampling area (Aosta Valley, Western Italian Alps). Red dots indicate the sampling locations.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of microplastics (MPs) grouped per polymeric composition (% on the total amount of MPs) isolated from snow samples collected in four locations of the Aosta Valley (Western Italian Alps). HDPE = High-density Polyethylene; LDPE = Low-density Polyethylene; PET = Polyethylene terephthalate.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Concentration (mean ± SE) of MPs (expressed in MPs/L of melted snow; mean ± SE) in snow samples from the four locations in the Aosta Valley (Western Italian Alps).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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