Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

Planting plastics: study finds a growing amount of microplastics in the agricultural soil

It's not just a problem in the ocean, they are everywhere

Fermin Koop by Fermin Koop
February 13, 2021
in Environment, News, Pollution, Science

Microplastics are contaminating agricultural land as well as the oceans, affecting the interaction between the soil and the plants. The amount varied according to the agricultural practice used by the farmers and probably affects all soil organisms.

Image credit: Flickr / State of Israel

Over time, plastic items in the ocean can break down into smaller pieces, known as microplastics. They can be the size of a rice grain or even smaller, making them easy to be ingested by sea creatures. Millions of tons of plastic enter marine ecosystems every year, and quantities are expected to increase in the coming years.

But while the impact of ocean microplastics has been at the focus of researchers for the past few years, not that much attention has been placed on the microplastics that are accumulating on land — including agricultural areas. A study estimated that 107,000 to 730,000 tons of microplastics are dumped onto agricultural soils in the U.S. and Europe every year.

The potential sources of microplastics in the agricultural environments include sewage sludge, compost, irrigation of wastewater, road runoff, atmospheric deposition, and plastics in agricultural practice. Microplastic can also come from organic fertilizer from biowaste, as several studies have recently shown.

It is estimated that 79% of 6.3 billion tons of the total plastic waste generated in 2015 accumulated in landfills or the natural environment and 7% of the plastics produced globally were utilized for agriculture. Plastic mulching, which covers a large part of the European agricultural surface, has grown rapidly in recent years worldwide. Polyethylene films have also been widely used in greenhouses and seem to be contributing to microplastic pollution.

A group of researchers from Incheon National University in Korea wanted to explore how abundant microplastics are in different types of soils based on the agricultural practice employed, something that hasn’t been thoroughly explored. Moreover, they wanted to see whether only external sources of microplastics were responsible for soil pollution.

“Most studies have focused on the marine environment, but substantial amounts of microplastics can be generated in the agricultural environment via weathering and fragmentation of plastic products used in agricultural practices. We hoped to find out the amount of microplastics in Korean agricultural soils,” Seung-Kyu Kim, lead researcher, said in a statement.

The researchers looked at four soil types corresponding to different agricultural practices: soils from outside and inside a greenhouse, mulching, and rice field soil. They collected the samples from rural farmlands during the dry season so to minimize the effect of non-agricultural sources of microplastics. They only considered microplastics in the size range between 0.1 to 5 millimeters.

The soils from outside and inside a greenhouse had the highest average microplastic abundance, the study showed, while the lowest content was in mulching. Looking at each type of microplastics, fibers and sheets were the most common ones. All soil samples except from the one inside a greenhouse had a major contribution from sheets, which suggests potential internal sources of microplastics.

The researchers hope that their findings can help to understand the growing role of the agricultural environment as a source of microplastic. This could lead to establishing efficient management strategies to tackle microplastics. Future studies should focus on the contribution of the individual sources of microplastics and their effect on soil properties, which cascade throughout the entire ecosystem.

The study was published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

Was this helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Related posts:
  1. How tree-climbing goats keep one of Morocco’s agricultural treasures growing
  2. New species of soil bacteria can break down soil pollutants
  3. Any amount of neonicotinoids can be harmful for bees, study finds
  4. Cutting down trees and planting new ones is wrecking the soil
  5. Airborne microplastics have a growing influence on the climate, but we need more data
Tags: microplastic

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW