BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 24 -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release:
Rainfall from Hurricane Helene produced a short-term spike in microplastics at three sites in Western North Carolina, with microplastic deposition three to 22 times higher than before the storm.
The storm accounted for 18.8 percent of the annual microplastic deposition at Highlands Biological Station at Western Carolina University, 4.2 percent at Iron Duff in Haywood County, and 4.6 percent at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in Macon County.
"The microplastic footprint Helene left behind was pretty substantial," said Austin Gray, a Virginia Tech biologist. "Microplastics are depositing all over terrestrial and aquatic areas, ...