- Scientists have discovered micro plastics in a remote area of the Pyrenees mountains, which runs between France and Spain. According to the study published in Nature Geoscience, micro plastics travelled through the atmosphere and were blown into the region by the wind.
- Micro plastics are plastics which are less than five mm in diameter in size. Sources of micro plastic include clothing, cosmetics, industrial processes etc. in the recent study, scientists had focussed on micro plastics mostly between 10 and 150 micrometres.
- Other recent studies have found micro plastics in farmland soils near Shanghai, China, in the Galápagos Islands, a UNESCO world heritage site, and in rivers in the Czech Republic
- Micro plastic pollution has become a major environmental concern. According to a 2017 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report, micro plastics are estimated to constitute up to 30% of marine litter polluting the oceans.
