(CNN) New research suggests that contamination from the Industrial Revolution traveled over 6,000 miles from London to a Himalayan mountain.

Researchers studied an ice sample that was extracted from a glacier on the highest peak ever drilled. The site on Mount Shishapangma sits at 23,600 feet above sea level.

When researchers analyzed and dated the ice, they found unnaturally high levels of toxic metals that are associated with coal combustion. They discovered that this contamination started in the 1780s during the Industrial Revolution.

The contaminants are likely ash from London factories, or residue from forest fires set by farmers in order to clear land for a growing population.

The obvious question is how the ash found its way from its place of origin into this glacier.

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