We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Biosolid amendments as drivers for microplastic pollution in soil: Measurements and insight from multiple analytical methods in an agricultural field study
Summary
Farms sometimes spread "biosolids" (treated sewage sludge) on fields as fertilizer, and this study measured microplastic particles in soil that had received these applications over a decade compared to untreated farmland. Using detailed chemical testing, researchers confirmed that soil treated with sludge contained identifiable plastic contamination, supporting concerns that this common farming practice can be a source of microplastics building up in agricultural land. Since these plastics can end up in the crops we eat and potentially in our food and water supply, understanding where they come from is an important step toward reducing our overall exposure.
The ESR05-03 data is split into 4 parts: Part 1—Infrared spectra data: The data set contains chemical characterizations of microplastic particles measured by FTIR. Microplastics were extracted from anaerobic digestate from animal manure obtained from a green energy plant. The data is stored in a CSV file (e.g., D1-2-libsearch-after valid.csv) ESR05-03-part 1-digestate data.zip, while metadata can be found in ESR05-03-part 1-digestate data.doc Part 2—Infrared spectra data: The data set contains chemical characterizations of microplastic particles measured by FTIR. Microplastics were extracted from agricultural soils receiving sludge from 2004 to 2014. The data is stored in a CSV file (e.g., CF1S1-REP1-after validation.csv) ESR05-03-part 2-CF soil data.zip, while meta data can be found in ESR05-03-part 2-CF soil data.doc Part 3—Infrared spectra data: The data set contains chemical characterizations of microplastic particles measured by FTIR. Microplastics were extracted from soil with no history of sewage sludge application and farming practices. The data is stored in a CSV file (e.g., HF1S1-after valid.csv) ESR05-03-part 03-HF soil zip folder, while meta data can be found in ESR05-03-part 03-HF soil data.doc Part 4— Infrared spectra data: The data set contains chemical characterizations of microplastic particles measured by FTIR. Microplastics were extracted from procedural blanks. The data is stored in a CSV file (e.g., CF-blank-after valid.csv) in ESR05-03-part 04-procedural blank data.zip, while meta data can be found in ESR05-03-part 04-procedural blank data.doc