No mountain high enough: study finds plastic in ‘clean’ air

Microplastics from Africa and North America found airborne in French Pyrenees, 2,877 metres above sea level

From Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, microplastics are everywhere - even high in the Earth's troposphere where wind speeds allow them to travel vast distances, a new study has found.

Microplastics are tiny fragments - measuring less than 5mm - that come from packaging, clothing, vehicles and other sources and have been detected on land, in water and in the air.