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Microplastic: a Consistent Comparison of Global Sand and Soil Samples
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Analysis of nearly 600 sand and soil samples from every continent except Antarctica confirmed that microplastics are ubiquitous across the global biosphere, with consistent presence regardless of location or remoteness. This planetary-scale dataset demonstrates that microplastic contamination is a truly global condition, not limited to industrialized or coastal regions.
The mass production of plastics which began in the 1950's with 2 million tonnes per year, has increased nearly 200-fold to 381 million tonnes in 2015. Because of their durability, persistence, increasing production, and low rates of recovery, most of the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics produced globally over the past 65 years, still exist today. The resulting accumulation of plastic debris has been of global concern for decades. More recently, concern over the harmful impacts of contamination by small plastic fragment has emerged as a global environmental issue. A growing body of work from researchers around the globe have shown that small plastic fragments, known as microplastics (< 5mm), are ubiquitous in the biosphere. Our understanding of differences in the type, abundance, and composition of microplastics around the globe come from a variety of studies often employing different methods, making it difficult to compare results. No single study, that we are aware of, has collected and described microplastics in coastal sand and soil samples from around the world. Here we present results from our ongoing work describing microplastics in nearly 600 sand and soil samples from every continent, except for Antarctica. Samples were collected worldwide over a more than 20 year period. Samples were collected in 5 ml glass jars and sealed until opened for analysis in this study. Following the methods of Besley et al. 2016, microplastics were separated and extracted from sand/soil samples using density separation with a NaCl and deionized water solution followed by vacuum microfiltration. Filters were visually inspected using a stereoscope and all microplastics were photographed and their area measured using NIH ImageJ software. The composition of microplastics will be identified using Raman laser spectroscopy. By consistently employing the same methodology to describe microplastics in sand and soil samples from around the world, it is our hope that this study will provide a more reliable means to compare microplastics at a global scale.
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Microplastic: a Consistent Comparison of Global Sand and Soil Samples
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers systematically collected and analyzed nearly 600 sand and soil samples from every continent using a consistent methodology, providing one of the most geographically comprehensive comparisons of microplastic contamination in terrestrial and coastal environments to date. Standardizing measurement methods is critical for understanding how plastic pollution varies globally and tracking changes over time.
Microplastic: a Comparison of Soil Samples in Minnesota by Population
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Researchers collected soil samples from Minnesota lakes across areas of varying population density to compare microplastic accumulation, finding that plastic pollution in lake sediments correlates with levels of nearby human activity, providing local-scale evidence of population-driven contamination patterns.
A Comparison of Methodologies for Quantifying Microplastics in Soil
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Researchers compared different laboratory methods for detecting and quantifying microplastics in soil, finding that methodology choices significantly affect the results obtained. Standardizing these techniques is important for producing consistent, comparable data to understand how much microplastic contamination exists in agricultural and terrestrial environments.
Microplastics in Soils and Sediments: a Review of Characterization, Quantitation, and Ecological Risk Assessment
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Researchers reviewed current methods for detecting and measuring microplastics in soils and sediments, identifying a lack of standardized protocols as a key barrier to comparing findings across studies. The review calls for urgent development of consistent methodologies to better assess the true scale of microplastic pollution in land environments.
Microplastics in Terrestrial Soils: Occurrence, Analysis, and Remediation
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics from synthetic polymers have spread throughout terrestrial soils globally, examining detection methods and emerging remediation strategies for a pollutant that now persists in farmlands and natural soils alike.
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