Revealed: more than 1,000 metric tons of microplastics rain down on US parks and wilderness

A survey of 11 remote western locations found that, over a year, the fragments had traveled through the atmosphere like rain or water particles

Microplastic particles equivalent to as many as 300m plastic water bottles are raining down on the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and other US national parks, researchers have found.

In a survey of 11 remote western locations, also including the Great Basin and Craters of the Moon national parks, researchers discovered more than 1,000 metric tons of microplastic particles that had traveled through the atmosphere like rain or water particles.