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The Plastic Underground: Are Microplastics in the Subsurface a Ticking Time Bomb for Soil and Groundwater Ecosystems?
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Researchers reviewed and investigated how microplastics enter subsurface environments through agricultural practices, irrigation, and streambed infiltration, finding critical knowledge gaps about plastic residence times and impacts on groundwater ecosystems and calling for urgent study of soils as long-term plastic sinks.
Increasing volumes of mismanaged plastic waste have resulted in millions of tons of plastics entering the environment. While recent research has made substantial progress in determining the fate and transport of microplastics (MP) in river systems and their subsequent discharge to the worlds oceans, much less is known about the subsurface fate of MP as they enter soils, (riverine) sediments and global groundwater resources. Initial studies have identified MP in selected groundwater samples and there is great interest to understand entry pathyways of MPs into soils, in particular through agricultural pathways. The mechanisms of MP release from agricultural sources such as seed and agrochemical encapsulations or sewage sludges as well as the total quantity, spatial distribution, residence time scales as well as the impact of MP on soils and subsequently groundwater ecosystems are completely unknown. There is hence a critical need to study the role of soils and groundwater systems as a long-term sink for plastic pollution, including the development of legacy risks.Here we identify the significance of various entry pathways for MP into subsurface ecosystems, integrating experimental and model based quantifications of MP transport through streambed sediments with quantifications of MP inputs into agricultural soils through irrigation with river water. We present first results of MP impacts on the functioning of subsurface ecosystem services, by the particular example of MP exposure impacts on the behaviour of bioturbating invertebrates and the subsequent consequences for sediment biogeochemical cycling in order to draw attention to the potential risks for vital soil and groundwater ecosystem services.We complement this site specific mechanistic process understanding with global estimates of mismanaged plastic waste accumulation in river basins to quantify MP catchment wide loads available for leakage into soils and present first results of our recently started participatory approach that aims to develop a baseline of MP pollution in aquifers across the world. Such baseline data is imperative to increase our understanding of MP fate and transport processes, MP uptake by groundwater organisms and the interaction of MP with nutrients and potential co-contaminants. Our specifically tailored protocol allows for standardized MP sampling in boreholes, springs or wells across a wide range of geological settings and land cover classes. We invite and encourage the community to contribute to this global effort in order to enable estimates of the magnitude and expected time scales of soil and groundwater MP contamination.
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The plastic underground – Exploring the mechanisms controlling the fate and transport of microplastics in the subsurface
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Researchers combined field sampling, laboratory experiments, and mathematical modelling to explore the mechanisms controlling microplastic entry, fate, and transport in the subsurface — including soils, riverbeds, sediments, and groundwater aquifers — identifying hotspots and activation mechanisms for subsurface MP contamination.
The Urgent Need to Investigate Microplastic Contamination in Groundwater: Soil and Groundwater Interactions as Key Drivers
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This viewpoint paper argued for urgent investigation of microplastic contamination in groundwater, highlighting soil-groundwater interactions as key drivers of subsurface MP transport and emphasizing the gap in current monitoring efforts.
Microplastics and nanoplastics in agriculture—A potential source of soil and groundwater contamination?
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics and nanoplastics (tiny plastic fragments) contaminate agricultural soils and can migrate through the soil into groundwater, potentially carrying pesticides and other chemicals with them. They conclude that current analytical tools are inadequate and that plastic fragmentation in soils is a poorly understood but serious threat to drinking water supplies.
Microplastics transport in subsurface environments: Mechanisms and multi-scale modeling
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Tiny plastic particles are seeping through soil into groundwater—the same water many of us drink—and this review of existing research shows scientists still struggle to predict exactly how they move underground. Because these particles behave differently than the chemicals or germs we usually track in water, current safety models may miss how far and fast they travel, which matters since they can carry other pollutants along with them. Better tracking models, which the researchers propose building, could eventually help protect drinking water supplies from this hidden contamination.
Groundwater systems under siege: The silent invasion of microplastics and cock-tails worldwide
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This review reveals that groundwater, a critical drinking water source for billions of people, is increasingly contaminated with microplastics from surface pollution seeping downward through soil. Unlike ocean and river pollution, groundwater microplastic contamination has received far less research attention, leaving major gaps in understanding how plastics migrate underground. The findings are alarming because contaminated groundwater directly enters drinking water supplies with little to no treatment in many regions.
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