Due to my limited financial resources, I am unable to conduct microplastic testing on the soil, water, and wildlife in the survey area. At present, it is impossible to assess the level of pollution. Because of the unique geographical location of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, it is not only a habitat for many endangered wildlife species but also the source of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, and the Lancang River. The pollution caused here has far-reaching impacts. However, given the seriousness of the issue, it is important to present the problems already discovered and reveal the truth behind the pseudo-ecology before comprehensive survey data is available. This will make the public and local government aware of the disastrous consequences for the environment.

On March 18, 2023, we passed through the Gyatam Grassland in Yushu, Qinghai, and were shocked to discover a large amount of green plastic film in this core area of Sanjiangyuan, China’s National Nature Reserve. The plastic film was in the process of disintegration, polluting an area greater than 634 standard basketball courts. These plastic fragments of various sizes are spreading on the land, gradually breaking down into plastic particles, infiltrating the source waters of the three rivers, entering the blood of pikas, the stomachs of yaks, and even human blood. This situation has made us extremely concerned about the health of the grassland ecosystem.

 

 

The Gyatam Grassland, situated at an average altitude of 4200 meters, supports an ecosystem that includes herbivores such as white-lipped deer, Tibetan antelope, and Tibetan wild ass. These herbivores, in turn, sustain medium to large carnivores, including Tibetan foxes, lynxes, desert cats, wolves, and even brown bears. Recently, about 370 black-necked cranes, a first-class national protected species, have been stopping here.

 

 

Spring is a wonderful season, and the grassland exudes a peaceful tranquility. As we watched Tibetan antelopes grazing and yaks wandering leisurely, the sight of large patches of shredded green plastic rudely interrupted the serene landscape. The green non-woven fabric is being torn apart naturally on the Gyatam Grassland. The wind blows across the grassland, causing the non-woven fabric to spread further, with its striking blue-green color standing out conspicuously.

The grassland vegetation restoration project has caused shocking plastic pollution, Three raptors are glaringly searching for pikas on the non-woven fabric. Through the food chain, plastic pollution not only affects the soil and rivers but will also invade the bodies of wild animals. March 2023 / Photo by Ping Lei.

In the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, the plastic pollution area exceeds 688 mu. 

Based on the drone routes and aerial footage, statistics using Google Maps indicate that the main coverage area of the green non-woven fabric is 688.4985 mu.

 

What exactly are these green non-woven fabrics? 

Taobao’s big business, Behind it lies an environmental scam disguised as ecological restoration. 

The sellers claim: they degrade in just a few months and require no cleanup.

Food Chain Diagram

Investigators conducted online research and found that this green ground cover film is sold on major e-commerce platforms and is made from high-polymer polyolefin plastic polypropylene. The investigators surveyed and inquired at the top 12 non-woven fabric sales stores on the Alibaba e-commerce platform. All 12 stores selling green ground cover film stated that their products are made of polyethylene PP and claimed that the films are environmentally friendly, naturally degradable, and do not require removal. The degradation time is approximately two months. The statistical results are shown in the following figure:

 

In-depth Analysis: Why Can’t Non-Woven Fabric Green Ground Cover Film Achieve Natural Degradation in a Short Time?

I. Is It Because It Is Made of Polypropylene? Polypropylene material, polyolefin plastic refers to plastics made from olefin monomers such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS). These materials account for 50% of the total consumption of various types of synthetic plastics and are major contributors to plastic waste.

 

Before the end of 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice requiring all public institutions to stop using non-degradable disposable plastic products listed in the “Catalogue of Non-Degradable Disposable Plastic Products Prohibited in Public Institutions (First Batch).” The document specifically stated that non-degradable materials refer to non-biodegradable polymer materials containing polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and others.

This also indicates that degradable materials must not contain polypropylene (PP).

 

II. Polypropylene (PP) is Harder to Degrade than Other Plastics

Polypropylene (PP) plastic is the most widely produced and used plastic, second only to polyethylene (PE) plastic. Its chemical structure is similar to that of polyethylene plastic, representing a typical example of carbon-carbon backbone plastics. The difference in chemical structure between polypropylene and polyethylene plastics is that polypropylene has a methyl group in its side chain. Like other carbon-carbon backbone plastics, polypropylene has a very high molecular weight, strong hydrophobicity, high chemical bond energy, and low bioavailability, which makes it difficult for microorganisms to degrade it in the environment.

Microbial strains isolated from soil have shown some degradation capability on ultraviolet-irradiated polypropylene plastics, but they do not degrade untreated polypropylene plastics. This indicates low degradation efficiency of the obtained microorganisms. Jeyakumar et al. investigated the auxiliary effects of different pretreatment methods and degradable materials such as mixed starch on fungal degradation of polypropylene plastics. The results showed that ultraviolet treatment, metal ion oxidizer treatment, or mixed starch and other degradable materials could enhance the degradation ability of fungi on polypropylene plastics to some extent, while untreated polypropylene is difficult for fungi to utilize. Issues and unresolved problems include: research on microbial degradation of polypropylene plastics is still in the stage of isolating metabolic strains, and there is a serious lack of strains for the degradation of polypropylene plastics that can be studied and applied. Efficient and highly specific degradation strains have not been reported; the microbial metabolism mechanism is unknown. (Source: Journal of Chemical Engineering, Nov. 25, 2019, 35, “Microbial Degradation of Petroleum-based Plastics”)

Where Do the Claims of Polypropylene Degradability Come From?

Adding degradants to polypropylene is even more alarming than non-degradation.

 

In the early 1970s, plastic film technology was introduced in China and applied in agriculture to increase crop yields. However, as more and more plastic films accumulated in the soil, it caused problems such as “white pollution.”

 

Based on this, photodegradable plastics emerged. By adding a small amount of photoinitiator and other additives to PP plastics, the carbonyl content of polypropylene can be changed, making it quickly disintegrate in about 60-600 days. Olefin polymers of photodegradable plastics can break down into smaller molecular chain segments under light exposure, becoming smaller powders under light conditions. However, this is merely “disintegration” and does not fundamentally degrade the polymer into environmentally harmless substances. The small fragments produced by disintegration still remain in the soil and cannot be recovered, which can only be called “pseudo-degradable” plastics.

 

On February 28, 2021, Professor Ren Jie, deputy dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Tongji University, stated in a Longpop online live broadcast that adding degradants to polypropylene is even more alarming than non-degradation.

 

It Can Enter the Human Body Through the Water Environment

 

This area is the hinterland of Sanjiangyuan, the source water region of the Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Lancang River (known internationally as the Mekong River), and is known as the “Water Tower of China.” Microplastics are scattered everywhere, flowing into the pristine water sources with meltwater and rainwater, and directly into the blood, organs, and other parts of local herders, fish, waterfowl, and other organisms.

 

Researchers have tested tap water samples from several cities in China and found that all samples contained microplastics in the form of fragments, fibers, and spheres. Animal studies have shown that microplastics smaller than 10 μm can pass through cell membranes into the circulatory system and reach other tissues. In fact, microplastics can potentially reach all organs in the body through the circulatory system.

 

On April 7, 2022, a study published in “Science of the Total Environment” by a research team led by the University of Hull in the UK first used μFTIR spectroscopy to detect microplastics deep in the lungs of living humans. (Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154907)

 

The most compelling finding of this study is that 39 microplastic particles (each at least 3 micrometers in size) were found in 11 out of 13 samples of living human lung tissue.

 

Laura Sadofsky, a respiratory medicine senior lecturer at Hull York Medical School and one of the study’s authors, also mentioned that microplastics had previously been found in human autopsy samples, but this is the first strong evidence of microplastics being found in the lungs of living humans.

Among the detected microplastics, 12 polymer types were identified, with polypropylene (PP) (23%), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (18%), resin (15%), and polyethylene (PE) (10%) being the most abundant. All MPs identified in tissue samples were either fibers (49%), fragments (43%), or films (8%), with an average particle length of 223.10 ± 436.16 μm (range 12-2475 μm) and an average particle width of 22.21 ± 20.32 μm (range 4-88 μm).

(Image source: University of Hull research team’s paper. The upper image, Figure A, shows the types of polymers; Figure B shows the shapes of microplastics; the lower image shows MPs identified in human lung tissue samples: A, B, C, and D are PET, PUR, resin, and PAN, respectively; E and F are unidentified microplastics.) The impact of microplastics on humans is still undetermined, but University of Canterbury environmental chemist Sally Gaw notes that phthalates, common additives in plastic products, may trigger various diseases. These include asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, breast cancer, obesity and diabetes, low IQ, neurodevelopmental issues, behavioral problems, autism spectrum disorders, and fertility and reproductive problems. For the health of the grasslands and the life they support, it is time to take this issue seriously.

 

In response to the large-scale plastic pollution affecting national nature reserves, we strongly call for:

 

1. 1. The responsible authorities to thoroughly clean up the non-woven green ground cover in the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve and throughout Qinghai.

1. 1. Enhanced public education and awareness campaigns for herders, informing them about the dangers of non-woven green ground cover.

1. 1. The removal of falsely advertised “environmentally friendly degradable” non-woven ground cover from Alibaba’s platform.

1. 1. The protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grasslands is a concern and an endeavor for many. Beyond the efforts of the government and businesses, local residents, and some public welfare organizations and environmental groups are actively exploring viable solutions. However, the engineering, transformative, project-based, and profit-driven mindset may not be effective for grassland conservation and may even be harmful. If our article, in highlighting the core issue of grassland pollution caused by planting covers, has unintentionally caused harm to environmental public welfare groups like Ant Forest and the Shan Shui Conservation Center, we sincerely apologize. We are a grassroots environmental interest group and have always held these experienced environmental organizations in high regard. We look forward to contributing more to the protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grasslands together in the future.

Currently, on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and even in the ecological restoration of some “damaged lands,” the excessive and unregulated use of so-called “degradable planting covers” is prevalent. These are often claimed to be “mostly degradable.” However, if degradation only means breaking down large areas into tiny particles rather than the true essence of the word “degrade,” then such degradation is nothing more than self-deception and public misleading in the name of science.

 

 

Raptors stand on the plastic film, perhaps waiting for pikas.

Follow-up:

Communication with Local Government Departments

VI. Communication with Relevant Government Departments

1. Relevant Management Unit – Resource and Environmental Law Enforcement Bureau (Contact Number: 0975-5952002): No response received yet (http://sjy.qinghai.gov.cn/hhy/jgsz/nsbm/21423.html)**

2. Qinghai Yushu 12345

   – Registered and forwarded to relevant departments; they are taking this matter very seriously and have started arranging verification.

3. Message board submission to the Qinghai Yushu People’s Government**

4. Submission to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment 12369 official website

5. Chenduo County Natural Resources Bureau stated that the main responsible party in Zhenqin Town has not yet responded. (Information source: Red Star News https://static.cdsb.com/micropub/Articles/202304/0897c566607c9e5fd7a62ce01cd5edb9.html?wxopenid=oBCTzjmfSW8zT_qRPWLiedX_GvU8)

 

B. We hope that the Qinghai Yushu Prefecture Government will provide a clear response as soon as possible:

1. Who is operating the polluted plot of land in Zhenqin Village 5 as shown in the diagram?

2. How many places in the Qinghai grassland are still using non-woven ground cover?

3. The Red Star News article mentioned that a staff member from the Chenduo County Cyberspace Administration told the Red Star News reporter that the plastic film used is degradable and the degradation rate has reached 90%. We have the following questions:

   – Why is the Propaganda Department’s Cyberspace Administration answering this question instead of the Environmental Department?

   – What is the scientific basis for the statement that the plastic film used is degradable and the degradation rate has reached 90%?