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Engineering Solutions for the Detection and Remediation of Emerging Microplastic Pollutants in Agricultural Soils and Water Supplies: A Systematic Review
Summary
This systematic review summarizes existing research on engineering tools for detecting and cleaning up microplastic pollution in farm soils and irrigation water. The study covers how microplastics enter agricultural systems through fertilizers, plastic mulch, and contaminated water, then affect soil health and potentially food safety. It evaluates promising technologies like advanced filtration and spectroscopy that could help protect our food supply from plastic contamination.
Microplastic pollution of agricultural ecosystem is an increasing environmental crisis that has long-term impacts on soil health, water quality, food safety, and human health. This update review is a synthesis of existing information on the use of engineering solutions to detect and mitigate the effects of microplastic pollution in the soil and irrigation water bodies used in agriculture. This studyreviews the sources, distribution, and ecological effect of microplastics in agricultural systems, especially in the detection processes and remediation toolsand analyzing peer-reviewed articles that have been published in the most recent period (2015-2025). Among other methods, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, pyrolysisgas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), and novel AI-based strategies with up to 98.93% accuracy are the key detection methods. Some of the remediation methods include physical separation (membrane filtration with 78-99.9% removal efficiency), chemical methods (advanced oxidation processes), as well as biology (microbial degradation, phytoremediation, and enzyme-based systems). In our analysis we identify the most promising direction to be through integrated multi-barrier strategies that integrate detection, source control and remediation strategies. There are still critical gaps in knowledge related to nanoplastic detection, whether bioremediation will be effective in the long term, and analytical protocol standardization in the field. The review offers a broad guideline on how researchers, policymakers and agricultural practitioners can come up with evidence-based strategies to reduce the prevalence of microplastic contamination in agricultural systems.