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65marcos/soil-microplastics: PDKP v1.0.0 - Initial Release2
Summary
Scientists built a computer model that predicts how plastic mulch used in farm fields breaks down over time and releases chemical additives—like plasticizers and BPA-related compounds—into the soil. Tested against real farmland data in China, the model could help farmers and regulators anticipate when and how much of these chemicals might leach into soil and potentially into crops or groundwater. This matters because many of these additives are linked to hormone disruption and other health concerns, so better prediction tools could guide safer farming practices before contamination becomes widespread.
PDKP v1.0: Polymer Degradation Kinetics for Plastics Process-based modeling framework for microplastic-associated additive dynamics in agricultural soils. What is PDKP? PDKP v1.0 is a mechanistic framework that couples polymer degradation, additive partitioning, and soil transport to predict chemical migration under realistic field conditions. The model is parameterized for five polymer types (PE, PP, PET, PLA, PBAT) and six representative additives (DEHP, Bisphenol A, UV-328, TCEP, Nonylphenol). Key Features Module I — Polymer Degradation: Tracks molecular weight, crystallinity, and surface area evolution under UV, temperature, moisture, and mechanical stress Module II — Additive Partitioning: Links degradation state to additive release kinetics and soil-water partitioning Module III — Soil Transport: Solves 1D advection-dispersion with sorption, biodegradation, and source terms Sensitivity Analysis: Variance-based Sobol indices and Morris screening for 28 parameters Uncertainty Quantification: Latin Hypercube Sampling with Gelman-Rubin convergence diagnostics Scenario Projections: CMIP6 climate downscaling and management alternatives through 2050 Error Documentation: Living error log with 8 documented errors and 10 verification checks Validation Validated against four-year field data from Xinjiang cotton fields (2018–2022). Transferability confirmed across North China Plain, Yangtze Delta, and Northeast China without recalibration. | Metric | MP Mass | Phthalate | UV-328 | |--------|---------|-----------|--------| | NSE | 0.72 | 0.68 | 0.65 | | PBIAS | +5% | −8% | +3% | | R² | 0.78 | 0.74 | 0.71 | Installation pip install -e .