Study Finds Snowfall Carries Significant Amount of Microplastics to Sierra Nevada

Even Sierra Nevada backcountry isn’t spared from microplastic pollution, finds skiing scientist

When toxicologist Aleksandra Karapetrova was looking for a Ph.D. topic, she turned to a skill few lab researchers bring to environmental science: backcountry skiing. Knowing the sport could take her far beyond the well-trodden paths of previous atmospheric studies, she skied deep into the Sierra Nevada mountain range. I was able to go farther than most,” said Karapetrova, a toxicologist affiliated with the University of California, Riverside, cu…

Study finds snowfall carries significant amount of microplastics to Sierra Nevada

SIERRA NEVADA, Calif./Nev. – A study published at the end of October found that snowstorms can capture and deposit a significant amount of microplastics onto the ground, including in remote locations in the Sierra Nevada. “We are at a point where microplastics are in our atmosphere, not just the ocean, not just rivers. It comes down with the snowfall, making its way to places humans typically don’t go,” Aleksandra Karapetrova said, the study’s l…

Microplastics found in freshly fallen snow in Sierra Nevada

Microplastics are everywhere — including in Nevada’s snowpack. After years of skiing on freshly fallen snow in remote locations across the Sierra Nevada, Aleksandra Karapetrov — an environmental toxicologist at the University of California, Riverside — wondered how pristine the snow really was.  Over six months, Karapetrov and a team of University of California, Riverside […]

Study Finds Thousands of Microplastic Particles in Sierra Snow, and It’s Headed for California’s Reservoirs

Every snowflake that lands on a Sierra Nevada ridgeline this winter will be carrying passengers. A new study measured, storm by storm, how much airborne plastic falls with the snow in the most remote parts of the range, and the count runs into the thousands per square meter every day. Yale Environment 360 reported on …