Why you should not eat snow
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Musician Frank Zappa once famously warned, "Don't eat the yellow snow."
The intrigue: Colorado State University hydrologist Steven Fassnacht said it's not the only snow you should avoid ingesting.
Why it matters: Before you catch snowflakes on your tongue this winter, you should heed his advice.
How it works: Think about the snowflake you cut in kindergarten, the one with all the different edges and angles.
- That's a lot of surfaces — far more than a drop of rain — and when it falls through the atmosphere, it collects more airborne pollution particles, Fassnacht explained.
Between the lines: Forever chemicals, vehicle emissions, dust and microplastics are often hidden in the snow, especially near industrialized areas or large cities. We also leave other pollutants in the snow.
- "You've got plastic ski boots on and plastic skis and poles, and your jacket and all your equipment — that's all plastic," he said on a recent CSU podcast. "Any breakdown of that – which will happen over time – is going to put microplastics onto the snowpack."
What he's saying: "I'd look around and think: What were the conditions when these clouds were forming? And what's in the air?"
- He recommends avoiding recent wildfire zones and snow on the industrialized Front Range.
The bottom line: He's not warning that all the snow is too contaminated to eat.
- "Our snow in Colorado is still good quality," he clarified. "We don't have huge industrial sources that are bringing in all of these contaminants. So, can we eat the snow? Probably."