Microplastics, those lasting relics of modern times, have occupied seemingly every part of the planet today, including the most distant reaches.
The Arctic is far from clean, though it's remote and rarely stepped in by visitors. Melanie Bergmann, a marine ecologist with the Alfred Wegener Institute, and her colleagues had been studying plastics on the Arctic seafloor since 2002. Large amounts turned up everywhere they looked. In deep sea, they found about 6,000 particles(颗粒)in every 2.2 pounds of mud. Sea ice was even more loaded—as much as 12,000 pieces per 34 ounces of melted ice.
Scientists measured microplastics in snow from this distant location and found levels they conclude could only have caught rides on the wind. The study raises concerns about how much microplastics pollute the atmosphere, bringing a potential health risk to people and animals that breathe them in. But they are less worried about the threat that breathed-in pollutants have to wildlife than about polluted snow leaving its load into water. “From an ecosystem angle, our biggest concern is what happens when that snow melts as the climate warms up,” Bergmann says.
The science on the health effects of microplastics is still going on. “For human health, we currently know very little,” says microplastics researcher Chelsea Rochman. "There is a lot of concern because we know we are exposed…. For wildlife, we know that microplastics may go into every level of the food chain.” Laboratory studies find some physical and chemical effects from microplastics exposure, but the findings vary by the plastic type, shape and size. “There's much more we need to do to clearly understand the effects," he says. "And further experiments will be carried out soon with application for equipment and financial support approved.”
Even worse is the threat from airborne nanoplastics in the area—too small to be noticed and may actually enter cells. Research on that also has been conducted and it could be a bigger problem, according to Rochman.
12. What is the data in paragraph 2 used to show?
A.Visitors rarely step into the Arctic. | B.Sea ice is more polluted than deep sea. |
C.Microplastics are everywhere in the world. | D.The Arctic suffers serious microplastics pollution. |
13. What worries the scientists most?
A.Microplastics' entering the water ecosystem. | B.Human beings' breathing microplastics in. |
C.Wildlife's being threatened by micropollutants. | D.Microplastics pollution's worsening global warming. |
14. What do Rochman's words suggest?
A.Their experiments lack financial support. | B.Effects of microplastics exposure are unknown. |
C.Animals are in a more risky situation than man. | D.Microplastics' effects on health require more study. |
15. What will the following paragraphs talk about?
A.Damage of microplastics to health. | B.Appeals for environmental protection. |
C.Findings about nanoplastics in the Arctic. | D.Measures to solve microplastics pollution. |