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Polypropylene microplastics alter the cadmium adsorption capacity on different soil solid fractions
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Researchers found that polypropylene microplastics reduce soil's ability to bind the toxic heavy metal cadmium, with the effect varying by soil composition and microplastic aging — suggesting that microplastic contamination could indirectly increase the risk of heavy metals leaching into groundwater.
Microplastics (MPs) are widely present in a variety of environmental media and have attracted more and more attention worldwide. However, the effect of MPs on the interaction between heavy metals and soil, especially in soil solid fraction level, is not well understood. In this study, batch experiments were performed to investigate the adsorption characteristics of Cd in bulk soil and three soil solid fractions (i.e. particulate organo matter (POM), organic-mineral compounds (OMC), and mineral) with or without polypropylene (PP) MPs. The results showed that the addition of PP-MPs reduced the Cd adsorption capacity of the bulk soil in aqueous solution, and the effects varied with PP-MPs dose and aging degree. Whereas, the responses of the three fractions to PP-MPs were different. In presence of PP-MPs, the POM and OMC fractions showed negative adsorption effects, while the mineral fraction showed positive adsorption. For the bulk soil, POM and OMC fractions, the adsorption isotherm fitted to the Langmuir model better than the Freundlich model, whereas, the Freundlich isotherm model was more fitted for the mineral fraction. Combined with the comprehensive analysis of the partitioning coefficients, XRD and FTIR results, it was found that OMC fraction extremely likely play a leading role in the bulk soil adsorption of Cd in this study. Overall, the effect of MPs on adsorption capacity of the bulk soil for Cd may be determined by the proportion of POM, OMC, and mineral fractions in the soil, but further confirmation is needed.
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