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Forming Micro-and Nano-Plastics from Agricultural Plastic Films for Employment in Fundamental Research Studies
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Researchers developed a method for generating representative micro- and nano-plastics directly from agricultural mulch films (polyethylene and biodegradable starch-based films) for use in ecotoxicology studies, addressing limitations of using commercially manufactured polystyrene spheres as surrogates. The method produced particles with surface chemistry and size distributions more reflective of real environmental agricultural plastic fragments.
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) dispersed in agricultural ecosystems can pose a severe threat to biota in soil and nearby waterways. In addition, chemicals such as pesticides adsorbed by NPs can harm soil organisms and potentially enter the food chain. In this context, agriculturally utilized plastics such as plastic mulch films contribute significantly to plastic pollution in agricultural ecosystems. However, most fundamental studies of fate and ecotoxicity employ idealized and poorly representative MP materials, such as polystyrene microspheres. Therefore, as described herein, we developed a lab-scale multi-step procedure to mechanically form representative MPs and NPs for such studies. The plastic material was prepared from commercially available plastic mulch films of polybutyrate adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) that were embrittled through either cryogenic treatment (CRYO) or environmental weathering (W), and from untreated PBAT pellets. The plastic materials were then treated by mechanical milling to form MPs with a size of 46-840 µm, mimicking the abrasion of plastic fragments by wind and mechanical machinery. The MPs were then sieved into several size fractions to enable further analysis. Finally, the 106 µm sieve fraction was subjected to wet grinding to generate NPs of 20-900 nm, a process that mimics the slow size reduction process for terrestrial MPs. The dimensions and the shape for MPs were determined through image analysis of stereomicrographs, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) was employed to assess particle size for NPs. MPs and NPs formed through this process possessed irregular shapes, which is in line with the geometric properties of MPs recovered from agricultural fields. Overall, this size reduction method proved efficient for forming MPs and NPs composed of biodegradable plastics such as polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT), representing mulch materials used for agricultural specialty crop production.
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Forming Micro-and Nano-Plastics from Agricultural Plastic Films for Employment in Fundamental Research Studies
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Researchers developed a lab-scale multi-step mechanical procedure to produce environmentally representative microplastics and nanoplastics from commercial agricultural plastic mulch films -- including polybutylene succinate adipate and polyethylene mulch -- enabling more ecologically relevant ecotoxicity and fate studies compared to idealized polystyrene microspheres.
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Researchers developed a mechanical method for producing micro- and nanoplastic particles from agricultural plastic films, creating materials more representative of real-world soil contaminants than the idealized spheres commonly used in lab studies. They successfully generated polydisperse fragments from low-density polyethylene mulch film using cryogenic milling. The study provides the research community with more realistic plastic materials for studying the environmental fate and ecological effects of agricultural plastic pollution.
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