2023-12-21 15:22:33
A sampling of the Arctic ice of Svalbard revealed the presence of many chemical molecules usually used in skincare products, and particularly sunscreen residue!
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[EN VIDÉO] The Arctic is no longer the same The transformation of the Arctic into a warmer, less frozen and biologically different region is…
Pollution is everywhere, even in the uninhabited lands of the Far North. This is what reveals a new study which sought to demonstrate the presence in the Arctic environment of chemical pollutants from our personal cosmetic products. Among other things, scientists have found perfume residues and UV filters from sun creams in Svalbard ice cream!
There is no point blaming Santa and his elves for this new type of pollution. It is unlikely that they used such a large quantity when they were sleeping on the ice during the northern summer.
Fragrances and anti-UV molecules found at the top of Svalbard glaciers
These contaminants, potentially dangerous for the environment, were in fact sampled on five different glaciers on the Brøggerhalvøya peninsula, on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen located in the Arctic. This is the first time that benzophenone-3, octocrylene, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate and ethylhexyl salicylate have been found at such high latitudes, explain the researchers in the article published in the journal Science of the Total Environment. Molecules commonly used in our care products. And we are right to wonder how they could have gotten this far.
Contaminants transported by atmospheric currents to high latitudes
Scientists point out that the fragrances contained in perfumes, just like the anti-UV molecules making up spray sunscreens, are easily released into the atmosphere during their production or, of course, their use by individuals. A large part also reaches the aquatic environment from where they can enter the atmosphere through gas exchanges which occur between the surface of the sea and the air.
Regardless of where they enter the environment, these particles end up joining atmospheric currents, which transport them over very long distances, even into the Arctic environment. Trapped in the snowflakes, they then find themselves accumulated in the ice which temporarily acts as a reservoir. The question remains what happens to them when the snow melts during the summer period and to what extent they are capable of altering the fragile Arctic ecosystems.
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#Traces #sunscreen #North #Pole