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Twenty-One Years of Plastic Mulching on Blueberries: Content of Microplastics and Effects on Soil Properties
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Researchers assessed soil microplastic accumulation in blueberry orchards with 6 to 21 years of plastic mulch use, finding that older fields had up to 256 microplastic items per kilogram of soil and that higher microplastic levels were associated with reduced soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, raising concerns about long-term agricultural soil health.
Plastic use has increased substantially worldwide owing to its benefits for food production. However, they are a source of microplastics (MPs) and their presence can affect soil properties. The objective of this study was to assess whether the length of blueberry orchards in the presence of plastic mulching is related to different MPs contents and to elucidate whether the presence of MPs is related to changes in soil chemical and microbiological properties. Four blueberry orchards with 6-, 11-, 16, and 21 years of plastic mulch were evaluated. Soil was sampled once at 0–10 cm depth, and the content of MPs, soil properties related to soil fertility, and soil microbial activity were measured. The 21-year-old orchard was associated with an increase in soil organic matter, pH, basal soil respiration, urease, β-glucosidase, and acid phosphatase activities compared to the other orchards. However, available N and P levels were significantly higher in the 16-year-old field, whereas dehydrogenase activity was higher in the 6-year-old field. For MPs content, the 16- and 21-year-old fields presented higher accumulation of MPs in the soil at 256 and 112 items kg−1, respectively, which was negatively associated with chemical properties, such as N, P, and K, and an increase in pH. This may be a response to differences in biological properties, such as soil enzymatic activity. This study revealed the process by which MPs accumulated in the soil, specifically in relation to the duration of mulch use and the effects of soil properties.
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Plastic polyethylene mulch films used in agriculture fragment over time into microplastics that accumulate in soil, contaminating agroecosystems and potentially entering the food supply through crop uptake and irrigation water. As plastic mulch use grows globally, so does the agricultural contribution to microplastic pollution and human dietary exposure.
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Researchers reviewed what is known about microplastic contamination in agricultural soils, noting that despite hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic entering the environment annually, very little is understood about how microplastics persist, migrate, and affect soil ecosystems. This knowledge gap is concerning given that contaminated soil directly affects food crops consumed by humans.
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Long-term plastic mulch in Chinese cotton fields builds up 78 microplastic particles per 100g of soil down to 60cm depth, all matching polyethylene. - 64867 — Microplastics are found throughout the ocean and in human bodies; scientists are still determining how harmful exposures may be. - 50228 — Electrochemical coagulation removed 98% of microplastics from agricultural runoff water within 45 minutes. - 49990 — Korean greenhouse and plastic-mulched farmland soils showed similar levels of microplastic contamination, dominated by tiny fragments under 300 micrometers. - 49896 — Microplastics in paddy soil reduced available nitrogen by up to 80% while slightly boosting enzyme activity, potentially affecting rice crop nutrition. - 81423 — Steel deformation during high-temperature stress relaxation differs by material: intergranular in pure iron, intragranular in hardened chromium steels. - 49437 — Even remote areas in New York's Finger Lakes receive microplastics via both rainfall and direct airfall. - 49350 — Microplastics alter how oil spills disperse in seawater, potentially complicating cleanup of marine oil spill events. - 49342 — Microplastics are entering karst cave systems that supply roughly a quarter of global drinking water. - 49339 — Atlantic mackerel and horse mackerel may selectively ingest microplastics mistaken for prey, concentrating plastics in commercially fished species. - 49311 — Weathering/aging changes PET plastic properties enough that calibration with pristine PET may not accurately measure aged microplastics. - 49155 — Computer simulations show microplastic particle shape heavily influences whether they sink or float, helping predict where plastics accumulate in water. - 48950 — Microplastics were identified in largemouth bass stomachs from the Mid-Atlantic using infrared microscopy. - 48816 — Certain bacteria can degrade or remediate micro- and nanoplastics in soil, offering a potential biological cleanup approach. - 48806 — Urban waterways are accumulating microplastics that act as carriers for toxic chemicals, compounding environmental risks. - 48805 — Case study of Brisbane River shows microplastics accumulate in urban river sediments and can be transported downstream. - 48434 — Microplastics in soil alter structure, nutrient movement, and may be taken up by plants, raising food supply contamination concerns. - 48295 — Overview of microplastic generation sources, detection methods, and mitigation strategies across different environments. - 48241 — Nanotechnology-based approaches using engineered nanomaterials may help accelerate breakdown of persistent plastic pollution. - 48130 — Microplastics in soil carry co-pollutants like pesticides and heavy metals, potentially amplifying combined contamination risks. - 48070 — Widespread microplastic contamination documented in Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria, threatening marine life and communities dependent on the lagoon. - 48033 — Single-use plastic straws on an Indonesian beach were observed breaking down into microplastics through UV, wave action, and abrasion. - 48021 — Non-degrading plastics accumulate for centuries; the Great Pacific Garbage Patch holds 79,000 tonnes of floating plastic across 1.6 million km². - 47973 — Microplastics found everywhere act as carriers for toxic pollutants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, potentially delivering concentrated chemical doses to wildlife and humans. - 47966 — Review of environmental impacts of common plastic types and emerging degradation strategies amid worsening global plastic accumulation. - 60976 — Naturally derived adsorbents from plants and minerals can capture microplastics and other emerging contaminants from water and soil. - 59706 — Synthetic textile fibers shed during washing enter waterways in vast quantities, representing a major underappreciated source of microfiber pollution. - 59631 — Nanoplastics may disrupt gut microbiome and through the gut-brain axis potentially contribute to neurodegeneration, though the pathway remains preliminary. - 59219 — Microplastic ocean pollution directly undermines UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (life below water) and threatens global marine biodiversity efforts. - 59702 — Detecting and assessing the toxicity of emerging pollutants including microplastics remains technically difficult, limiting understanding of their true environmental impact.
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