Japanese Researchers Discover Microplastics in Clouds

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Japanese researchers released a new study on microplastics in clouds. Hiroshi Okochi, a Professor at Waseda University, led this study to explore the path of microplastics while they circulate in the biosphere.

The microplastics, they found, adversely impacted human health and the climate. "Microplastics in the free troposphere are transported and contribute to global pollution," said Okochi as written on the official website of Waseda University on September 27.

Okochi hoped that the issue of 'plastic air pollution' would be addressed proactively. If not, climate change and ecological risks may become a reality, causing irreversible and serious environmental damage in the future.

The team collected cloud water from the summit of Mount Fuji and Mount Oyama, regions at altitudes ranging between 1,300 to 3,776 meters. Using advanced imaging techniques like attenuated total reflection imaging and micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (µFTIR ATR imaging), Okochi and his team determined the presence of microplastics in the cloud water, and examined their physical and chemical properties.

As a result, they identified nine different types of polymers and one type of rubber in the airborne microplastics detected. The Feret diameters of these microplastics ranged between 7.1 – 94.6 µm, the smallest seen in the free troposphere.

Each liter of cloud water tested contained between 6.7 to 13.9 pieces of plastics, as quoted by Aljazeera. Microplastics, defined as plastic particles under 5 millimeters that come from industrial waste, textiles, synthetic car tires, personal care products, and other sources, have already been discovered inside fish, peppering Arctic sea ice, and in the snows on the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain.

However, the mechanisms of their transport to such varied locations had remained unclear, with research on airborne microplastic transport in particular being limited.

Waseda University stated on Wednesday that research has shown that large amounts of microplastics are ingested or inhaled by humans and animals and have been detected in multiple organs such as lung, heart, blood, placenta, and feces. "Ten million tons of these plastic bits end up in the ocean, released with the ocean spray, and find their way into the atmosphere," the university wrote.

This implied that microplastics may have become an essential component of clouds, contaminating nearly everything we eat and drink via “plastic rainfall.” Emerging evidence has linked microplastics to a range of effects on heart and lung health, as well as cancers, in addition to widespread environmental harm.

MARIA FRANSISCA LAHUR

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