It’s not good to swim there, but sunscreen residue can be found all the way to the North Pole. This is the conclusion of a scientific study published in the journal Science of The Total Environmentrelayed by International mail.
A first for arctic snow
To carry out their investigation, a team of researchers took and analyzed samples collected from five glaciers in Norway, some of which are far from any human activity. In a press release Marianna D’Amico, the first author of this study and a doctoral student in polar sciences at the Ca’Foscari University of Venice, indicated that this was “the first time that a large number of the contaminants analyzed , such as benzophenone-3, octocrylene, ethyl methoxycinnamate, and ethyl salicylate, are identified in Arctic snow.”
Proof of the global impact of human activities, researchers believe that these pollutants contained in sun creams were transported from low latitudes by atmospheric circulation.