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Water infiltration capacity in soil polluted with macroplastics
Summary
Researchers measured water infiltration rates in organic-rich coastal soils in central Norway that had accumulated buried macroplastic litter deposited by converging ocean currents, quantifying how macroplastic contamination alters vertical water transport capacity in these ecologically important near-coastal soils.
Coastal and near-coastal soils can be convergence zones for macroplastic litter depending on winds, tides, currents, and local land use conditions. Not much is known about the impacts of macroplastics on infiltration and percolation of water through organic-rich coastal soils, except where it has significantly altered vertical water transport. In central Norway, several ocean currents converge upon the low-lying outer coastal islands, delivering vast amounts of plastic that end up buried in organic-rich coastal soils. To begin to understand to what degree macroplastics affect rates of infiltration, which has important implications for microplastic leakage, soil moisture content, runoff, and the soil ecosystem, we developed a low-cost, citizen-science friendly laboratory experiment, which includes 15 cm diameter soil cores containing a mix of peat and sand and different amounts of 2 x 2 cm pieces of PET. To measure infiltration, we used 8 - 9 cm constant head water for 24 hours until the cores reached a state of saturation, with the aim of determining the point of departure for the amount of macroplastics in soil that significantly alters the speed of infiltration. Preliminary results clearly show a reduction in the speed of infiltration, already at macroplastic concentrations (0.5 Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559554/document
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