The team searched some of the most isolated places on the planet. They also hunted for pollution on land, gathering samples of freshly fallen snow. We didn't know it at the time, but even here, deposited either as a gas or in dust, were molecules of man-made chemicals.

该科研小组在地球最孤僻的地区开展过搜索活动。他们还曾通过采集新雪样本的方式来搜寻陆地上的污染物。那时我们并不知道，即使在南极，人造化学品分子也会以气体或尘埃的状态积存起来。

The samples of the three-month-long expedition were brought to this laboratory in Exeter; the majority were found to be contaminated.

在这次历时三个月的考察中所收集到的样本被带到了这间位于英国埃克斯特的实验室中。科学家们发现，大多数样本已被污染。

Dr David Santillo, Exeter University

大卫·桑提罗博士 英国埃克斯特大学

What we're finding is that in almost all of the samples of water we collected, we find tiny pieces of microplastics. Maybe only a few fragments of fibres in every litre of water, but given that this is really the end of the Earth, it's remarkable once again that we are finding microplastics almost wherever we look.

“我们发现，几乎所有被采集的海水样本中都含有少量的微塑料碎片。虽然每升水中可能只有微量的纤维碎屑，但考虑到南极是地球的尽头，所以在所有样本中几乎都找到了微塑料这一事实非常惊人。”

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