Microplastics could wipe out part of human history, experts warn as chemicals are found in Roman and Viking BURIALS

Microplastics are invading almost every corner of the world, but now the tiny particles threaten to wipe out part of human history.

Researchers from Britain’s University of York discovered the first evidence of microplastics at two archaeological sites in York that have yielded important findings from the Roman and Viking periods.

Microplastics, smaller than five millimeters in length, enter our bodies through plastic packaging, certain foods, tap water and even the air we breathe – and have been linked to cancer and fertility problems.

But the strange objects pulled from the ground in Britain could potentially endanger preserved remains, rendering them worthless to science.

The team found more than 25,000 microplastics in the samples, which were likely a direct result of human activities such as industry, agriculture, transportation and daily life.

The excavation of the Roman site at the Queen’s Hotel revealed remains of an ancient wall, suggesting that the area could have been of great importance to the ancient empire.

Microplastics have received a lot of attention recently due to their prevalence and abundance in our daily lives.

They have also been found in almost every part of the world – from the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench to the summit of Mount Everest.

Professor John Schofield from the Department of Archeology at the University of York, said in a rack: ‘This feels like an important moment, confirming what we should have expected: that what were previously considered pristine archaeological deposits, ripe for exploration, are in fact contaminated with plastic, and that this includes deposits sampled in the late 1980s and saved.

‘We are familiar with plastics in the oceans and rivers.

‘But here we see that our historical heritage contains toxic elements.

‘To what extent this contamination endangers the evidentiary value of these deposits and their national importance, we will try to determine below.’

Microplastics, smaller than five millimeters in length, enter our bodies through plastic packaging, certain foods, tap water and even the air we breathe – and have been linked to cancer and fertility problems

The team found more than 25,000 microplastics in the samples, which were likely a direct result of human activities such as industry, agriculture, transportation and daily life.

The team analyzed soil samples taken from Wellington Row in 1989 and the Queen’s Hotel in York in the same year and 1990 – a total of three samples from each.

The earliest deposits of Wellington Row were revealed as late first or early second century and extended to the 19th and 20th centuries.

And that of the Queen’s Hotel date to the end of the first century to the 20th century.

Wellington had the highest concentration, with 20,588 microplastics per kilogram, and samples from the Queen’s Hotel site contained 5,910 microplastics per kilogram.

At the site associated with the Viking period, archaeologists have uncovered tons of animal bones, a quarter of a million pieces of pottery and 20,000 other interesting objects.

The excavation of the Roman site at the Queen’s Hotel revealed remains of an ancient wall, suggesting that the area could have been of great significance to the ancient empire.

The team used a technique called Fourier-transform infrared (FTRI) spectroscopy, which can identify unknown plastics in materials.

The device picked up tens of thousands of microplastics in the six small soil samples – and 16 could not be categorised.

The plastics that may be involved are ethylene vinyl and polyolefin, which are used in food packaging.

Polyethylene, found in water bottles, polypropylene, used in pots, and hydrocarbon resin, which is added to rubbers, printing inks and adhesives – other plastics were also exposed.

However, 57 percent of the microplastics found were categorized as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) – or what is commonly known as Teflon, which is used in non-stick cookware.

About 17 different microplastics have been identified in the soil samples

The team has speculated that the small particles were introduced to the archaeological sites when they were excavated in the 1980s.

“The plastic storage buckets (PP), drill pipes (polymethacrylate), and a week’s worth of air sample from the archival storage identified several predominant polymer types compared to those characterized in the archived sediments,” the researchers wrote in the study. .

The team said this work was a pilot study to see if microplastics have made their way into valuable sites and noted that ‘if replicated across Britain, much heritage is potentially at risk from increasing deterioration and loss of information potential.’

Because plastics break down slowly, the particles can affect the chemical and physical composition of the soil.

“The potential for radiocarbon dating or residue/trace element analysis may be compromised by the presence of microplastics, and again requires further investigation to determine whether these are real risks,” the published study reads.

‘The loss of information potential may pose the greater threat to in situ conservation.’