Anthropogenic and biological activities elevate microplastics pollution in headwater ecosystem of Yangtze tributaries in Hindu Kush-Himalayan region

Microplastic (MP) pollution is widely spread in oceans, freshwater, and terrestrial environments but MPs in mountainous headwater ecosystem are rarely reported. This study focuses on the headwater of Yangtze tributaries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region. Five streams at elevations of 900 to 3300 m were selected to investigate the distribution of MPs in water and sediments across altitudes. MPs were found in all water and sediment samples from top stream zone nearly in absence of anthropogenic activity, low anthropogenic zone, and high anthropogenic zone, increased from 12-54, 81-185 to 334-847 items/L, and 2-35, 26-84 to 124-428 items/kg, respectively. This elevation-dependent MP distribution indicated that as elevation decreased, anthropogenic activities intensified and increased MPs input and their abundance, size, and diversity. Notably,