Heavy Metal Pollution From the Industrial Revolution Turns Up in Himalayan Snows

Likely churned out by factories and engines over 6,000 miles away, iron, lead, uranium and more traveled halfway around the world.

By Leslie Nemo
Feb 10, 2020 9:00 PMApr 18, 2020 9:29 PM
Himalayas
Even in the remote Himalayas, the Industrial Revolution made itself felt. (Credit: swapnil vithaldas/Unsplash)

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In the 1760s, British business owners swung open the doors to a cutting-edge innovation: factories. But behind those harbingers of industrialization lay coal, the fuel for their furnaces, pumps and engines.

As revamped manufacturing practices spread around Europe through the 19th century, the polluting byproducts of coal-powered engines spread even farther — possibly to the peaks of the tallest mountain range on Earth.

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