Microplastics as Emerging Soil Pollutants

Soils are essential components of terrestrial ecosystems and their pollution has become a major concern in the past few decades. Nowadays, the microplastic pollution of soil has become a ubiquitous problem worldwide owing to the widespread use of plastic materials. Microplastics (MPs) accumulated in the soil are a notable threat to soil health, soil animals, and microbial community. The plants show uptake and translocation of microplastics resulting in their toxicity. These ecological changes have a marked impact on agricultural output. Additionally, microplastics enter different ecosystems and bioaccumulate due to trophic transfer to food webs. Furthermore, various harmful chemicals as well as pathogenic microorganisms get adsorbed over microplastics causing various types of ill effects in different organisms. Therefore, potent management strategies are required to mitigate soil microplastic pollution. The objective of this chapter is to discuss microplastic sources in soil, their ecological impact, along with detection methods and potential control strategies.