Mastodawn

Excited that one of my passive #dust samplers is now deployed on the Monte Rosa massif in northern #italy! Thanks to collaborators from the University of Turin for making this unique opportunity possible. #dustsquared #CriticalZone #Alps #environment #geology #soil

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ksircombe Sep 6, 2023

@jmunroe Do you pick up much microplastic as well?

I was involved in setting up a similar looking dust collector as part of a high school science project several years ago. They found an unsettling amount of synthetic fibres and detritus. Always wondered if that was a function of sampling in an urban environment.

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Jeff Munroe Sep 6, 2023

Hi @ksircombe I don't screen my samples for microplastics, because I'm focused more on soil formation. But some of my colleagues are looking for microplastics in dust ... and "unsettling" is a good word to describe how much they are finding, even in "pristine" areas. Here's an example of that work: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz5819

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ksircombe Sep 6, 2023

Thanks @jmunroe, that is an interesting, but disturbing paper.