Research comparing Adirondack mountain lakes in New York suggests foot traffic is significant source of pollution
Hiking shoes and outdoor gear are likely a significant source of microplastic pollution in the wilderness, new research that checked for the pernicious material in several Adirondack mountain lakes in upstate New York suggests.
Researchers measured microplastic levels in two lakes that are the among highest sources of water for the Hudson River – one that sees heavy foot traffic from hikers, and another lake that is far away from a path and rarely touched by human activity.
The samples from the lake that sees heavier foot traffic showed levels that were about 23 times higher.
Microplastics are also in the rain. So I’m not sure we should be worried about hiking gear at this point.
Single use plastics for non-medical uses should be taxed out of existence.
https://www.sciencealert.com/plastic-rain-is-a-now-a-thing-and-weve-underestimated-just-how-heavy-it-is
Was your purpose to spread disillusionment?
Because that probably was the consequence.
Don’t be disillusioned. Most of the microplastics in the air is thought to come from tire dust. It’s a problem a lot of tire companies are already working on. And because EVs mostly use regenerative braking, they’ll make an impact there as well.
https://ev.com/news/study-reveals-evs-produce-less-brake-and-tire-pollution-with-fewer-non-exhaust-emissions