Microplastics Derived From Disposable Greenhouse Plastic Films and Irrigation Pipes: A Case Study From Turkey

Abstract Plastics are ubiquitous. It has been used in human activities, from agriculture to packaging, infrastructure, and health. The wide range of usage makes plastics an omnipresent pollutant in the environment. Microplastics (MPs) are one of the most concerning environmental problems. This study investigated the abundance and type of MPs in agricultural soil in the Adana/Karataş region in Turkey, where disposable low tunnel greenhouse plastic films and irrigation pipes were in use. For this purpose, one kg of soil samples from the top 5 cm (from the surface) was taken from 10 different sampling locations. An average of 11.13 ± 2.31 MPs/kg of microplastic was found in the soil samples. The highest amount of microplastics was seen at the Bahçe-4 location with 32.0 ± 14.36 MPs/kg and the lowest amount of microplastics at the Karataş-1 location with 0.3 ± 0.3 MPs/kg. The average size of microplastics was found to be 3.28 ± 0.08 mm. The average microplastics originating from greenhouse cover plastics was 3.29 ± 0.09 mm, and from disposable irrigation pipes was 3.17 ± 0.22 mm. It was determined that the amount of microplastics decreased in the soil where used plastics were removed after usage. As a result, it has been determined that a significant amount of microplastic pollution remains in soil due to plastics used in agricultural areas.