Microplastics in Latvian lakes

An international team of researchers (including members of the Lake and Peatland Research Centre) studying the sediments of three Latvian lakes (Usma, Sekši, Pinku) has concluded that the presence of microplastic particles in a particular sediment layer is not indicative of the time when it was produced or released into the environment, as microplastic particles tend to move deeper into the sediment.  For example, biodegradable plastics such as polylactide (PLA) were only commercially produced in the 1990s, but can be found in Latvian lake sediments even in layers dating back to the 18th-20th centuries (1733-1813 in Lake Pinki, 1900-1925 in Lake Usma).

The publication of the study in Science Advances is available at: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi8136