Himalaya contaminated with toxic metals and other chemicals, claims research
Himalaya is home to the tallest mountains in the world and
has remained a subject of mankind for a very long time. Tranquility and
pureness of environment are some of the unique attributes of Himalaya along
with vast networks of mountains and glaciers.
Himalaya has
naturally inherited regions that are thousands of meters above sea level, which
in turn isolates them from the rest of the world. One can easily assume that
this remoteness from the world shields it from the activity of humans but this
is not the case.
A recent research claims that the region has been
contaminated with metal toxins that evolved in the region with the dawn of
industrial revolution in England. Scientist in 1997 drilled and gathered
samples from glacier at Dasuopu, located on Shishapangma, which is also the 14th
tallest mountain in the world. After carrying a comprehensive analysis on these
samples researchers came to the findings that the samples harbor abnormal
composition of toxic metals which are above natural levels found under normal
conditions.
Cadmium, zinc and chromium among the detected toxins
The prominent metals found in the samples were cadmium, chromium
and zinc metals that easily get mixed with the air that carries them to distant
places. Cadmium and Chromium are byproducts of coal combustion while zinc can
make its way to the air via forest fire. These toxic pollutants are said to be
displaced by winds from west to the east.
As these winds arrived at the Himalaya, water from glacial
streams absorbed them from the air and froze along with it. Over the course of
environmental cycles and variations these metals got restrained inside stratified
glacier body. Scientist drilled these glaciers and obtained samples from the
core. These trapped metal traces upon analysis revealed the time period in which
they got deposited inside these glaciers. This age determining method is analogues
to annual rings found in trees that gives ideas about their age. In other words
we can say that these stratified glaciers act as an archive of the past.
Toxins link back to past coal combustion and forest clearing activities
Coal was tremendously used during the industrial revolution for
overcoming energy requirements while people used to burn forests with zinc for
the purpose of clearing lands for farming. These two conditions are said to be
responsible for bringing such toxins in the environment. A similar situation
was once observed in the glaciers in Peru due to silver mining and smelting.
Beside these detection of abnormal metal levels in the region various other
chemicals were also identified and among these is the carcinogenic toxin PFA
or perfluoroalkyl acids was detected in the glacial water stream.
The levels of these toxins are not acute enough to bring
considerable changes in the ecosystem but experts say that if the situation
persist then one day we are definitely going to doom our future on this planet.
If such remote sites are not safe from human activity then how can we possibly
expect to bring environmental homeostasis to the rest of the world?
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