Microplastic pollution characteristics and its future perspectives in the Tibetan Plateau

作者：Ting Wang, Liyin Qu, Dehua Luo, Xiaoliang Ji, Zengling Ma, Zhonggen Wang, Randy A. Dahlgren, Minghua Zhang, Xu Shang · 发表于：Journal of Hazardous Materials · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131711 · 被引用次数：106 · 研究领域：Microplastics and Plastic Pollution、Recycling and Waste Management Techniques、Municipal Solid Waste Management

Microplastics are an emerging and persistent pollutant due to their threat to global ecological systems and human health. Recent studies showed that microplastics have infiltrated the remote Third Pole - the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we summarize the current evidence for microplastic pollution in the different environments (rivers/lakes, sediment, soil, ice/snow and atmosphere) of the Tibetan Plateau. We assess the spatial distribution, source, fate, and potential ecological effects of microplastics in this broad plateau. The integrated results show that microplastics were pervasive in biotic and abiotic components of the Tibetan Plateau, even at the global highest-altitude, Mt. Everest. Although the concentration of microplastics in the Tibetan Plateau was far below that found in the densely populated lowlands, it showed a higher concentration than that in the ocean system. Tourist populations are identified as a substantial source of anthropogenic plastic input rather than local residents due to the rapid development of the tourism industry. In the sparsely inhabited remote area of the Tibetan Plateau, long-range atmospheric transport facilitates allochthonous microplastic diffusion. Robust solar radiation in the Tibetan Plateau might enhanced production of secondary microplastics by weathering (UV-photooxidation) of abandoned plastic waste. A rough estimation showed that the microplastic export flux from melting glaciers was higher than that measured in most of the world's la...