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Macro and microplastics in agricultural soils after use of conventional and biodegradable plastics
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Researchers sampled 38 agricultural fields where conventional polyethylene mulching films, polypropylene weed fabrics, biodegradable PBAT films, and frost covers had been used, quantifying macro- and microplastic contamination in soils to assess how different agricultural plastic products contribute to soil plastic pollution.
Various plastic products in direct contact with soil are widely used in agriculture to facilitate cultivation and improve the yield. From these materials, plastic can end up in the soil, where it can further break down into smaller particles, microplastics. To study the potential release of plastic particles from agricultural plastics to soil, samples from 38 agricultural fields were taken. In these fields, conventional mulching films (PE), weed controlling fabrics made of polypropene (PP), biodegradable mulching films based on polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), frost covers (PP), or oxo-degradable films (OXO-PE) had been used. Plastics with a size over 2 mm were analysed from all soil samples (CEN/TS 16202) and smaller microplastics (¿20 µm) were analysed from the sites with PE mulching film, PP weed controlling fabrics or OXO-PE films were use. The microplastics were extracted from soil samples by treating the samples stepwise with SDS, pectinase, viscozyme, cellulase and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and analysed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic imaging (FTIR; Bruker Lumos II FPA). At all plastic use types, the type of plastic similar to the material used at the site was most common plastic type in the soil, suggesting that the agricultural plastics are a source of microplastics into agricultural soil. The highest amount of small microplastics were found at sites where oxo-degradable film was used. The highest number of plastics larger than 2 mm were found at sites where perennial biodegradable film had been used. This reveals the challenge of how a biodegradable mulching film should last long enough in use, but on the other hand, decompose in the soil after use so that plastics would not accumulate in soil over time. The project MicrAgri was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland and plastLIFE project is co-funded by the European Union (LIFE21-IPE-FI-PlastLIFE). Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559737/document
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Researchers sampled 38 agricultural fields where different plastic products had been used — conventional polyethylene mulching films, polypropylene weed fabrics, biodegradable PBAT mulching films, frost covers, and oxo-degradable films — analyzing both macro and microplastics in soil at varying size fractions. They found plastic particles from all film types present in soils, with biodegradable and oxo-degradable films producing detectable microplastics, raising concerns about all agricultural plastic categories.
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