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[Effects of Microplastics on the Leaching of Nutrients and Cadmium from Soil].
Summary
A soil column experiment showed that polystyrene and polylactic acid microplastics at varying concentrations affected how nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and the heavy metal cadmium leach out of soil during simulated rainfall. Higher microplastic concentrations generally altered leaching patterns, raising concerns that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils could change nutrient availability for crops and increase the mobility of toxic heavy metals into groundwater.
The environmental effects of microplastics, which are considered a type of emerging contaminants, have attracted increasing concern due to their small size, large specific surface area, strong adsorption capacity, and low degradability. Microplastics can change soil properties and affect the migration ability of nutrients and pollutants in soil, but their effects on the leaching of soil nutrients and heavy metals have not been sufficiently studied. A soil column leaching experiment was conducted to explore the effects of polystyrene (PS) and polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics at different mass fractions (0%, 0.2%, and 2%) on the leaching of nutrients and cadmium under simulated rainfall scenarios. The results showed that increasing rainfall intensity enhanced the leaching of nutrients and cadmium from soil. During downpour conditions, 2% PS significantly increased the leaching of total nitrogen and the content of available phosphorus in soil and reduced the leaching of inorganic phosphorus and the content of ammonium nitrogen in the soil, whereas it increased the content of available potassium during heavy rain. By comparison, 2% PLA reduced the leaching of nitrate nitrogen during heavy rain and intense rainfall and decreased the content of ammonium nitrogen in soil during intense rainfall and downpour conditions and the content of total nitrogen in soil during downpours. In addition, 0.2% PLA significantly increased cadmium leaching during downpours. To conclude, the effects of microplastics on the leaching of nutrients and cadmium were dependent on the type and concentration of microplastics, as well as the rainfall level. Our findings showed that the microplastics derived from both nondegradable PS and biodegradable PLA could affect the leaching of nutrients and heavy metals from soil.