Microplastics have been found in historic soil samples for the first time, according to a new study, potentially upending the way archaeological remains are preserved.
Researchers found microplastics in soil deposits more than seven meters underground, which were deposited in the first or second century CE and excavated in the 1980s, a team led by researchers from the University of York in the United Kingdom said in a statement published Friday. In total, the study identified 16 different microplastic polymer types in contemporary and archived soil samples, the statement adds.
“This feels like an important moment, confirming what we should have expected: that what were previously thought to be pristine archaeological deposits, ripe for investigation, are in fact contaminated with plastics, and that this includes deposits sampled and stored in the late 1980s,” John Schofield, a professor and director of studies in the University of York’s Department of Archaeology, said in the statement. “We are familiar with plastics in the oceans and in rivers.
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