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Migration of Microplastic‐Bound Contaminants to Soil and Their Effects
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This chapter reviews how microplastics accumulate in agricultural soils via sewage sludge and compost applications, adsorb heavy metals, organic pollutants, and antibiotics, and transport these contaminants into farmland, posing risks to the food chain and human health.
Microplastics (MPs) are an emerging global concern due to their omnipresent distribution and chemical composition. In this chapter, we discuss the pathways of migration of MP-bound contaminants in agriculture and their potential consequences. MPs accumulate in agricultural soil, mostly due to the widespread application of sewage sludge and composts as fertilizers. Furthermore, MPs have been shown to adsorb heavy metals, organic pollutants, and pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics. This needs to be addressed since sewage sludge, on average, contains a substantial load of various contaminants, which, adsorbed by MPs, can be transferred into farmland, posing a threat to all members of the food chain, including humans. Degradation of MPs in agriculture also releases potentially toxic substances, including plasticizers and dyes. The risks caused by the introduction of MPs into the soil system need further investigation as their migration in agriculture still has unknown consequences for global food security, biodiversity, and human health.
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