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Impacts of microplastics in soils due to connected built environments, identification challenges, and regulating policies: A ComprehensiveReview
Summary
A comprehensive review of microplastic contamination in soils from built environments found that synthetic textiles, household waste, and urban runoff are major contributors, while existing regulatory frameworks remain inadequate for addressing soil-specific microplastic pollution. Because soil is a major sink for microplastics that eventually migrate into groundwater and food crops, the lack of soil-specific regulations represents a critical gap in protecting human health from dietary exposure.
Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous due to their universal presence in a vast spectrum of applications, including agriculture to industries, household items, commercial applications, to tourism industry, and many other sectors. The research on microplastic pollution in the recent times has predominantly focused on marine ecosystems, with meagre attention given to their presence in terrestrial environments. The current frameworks predominantly focus on macroplastic waste management and the ban of deliberately added microplastics in various products of consumers, whichaffects to the soil environments. In the Indian context, regulations such as the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016 bans the usage of microbeads in various cosmetics to mitigate MPs contribution into soils. Policy formulations worldwide especially within the European Union have been strengthened so as to incorporate restrictions on MPs. However, a coherent soil specific regulatory strategy and plastic lifecycle management framework is still lacking. Though soil acts as a significant sink for microplastics, these can oversaturate the soil and eventually spread in aquatic systems and humans. Microplastics enter soil through different natural and synthetic pathways, break up into fine minuscules over time, and spread both vertically and horizontally into soil over long periods. Residential zones are significant contributors of MPs, with synthetic textiles, household waste etc. an estimated 30% of localized MPs due to weathering and degradation. Moreover, drainage systems designed to manage urban runoff, act as critical channels, channelling up to 80% of MPs particulates into natural water reservoirs during storm. The review paper emphasizes on the exhaustive research of microplastics in the soil, their association with different built environments, MPs classification, methods of their determination, framework, and policies regarding the regulation of microplastics present globally, and their effect, with various gaps.