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Review article

A comparative study of soil microplastic pollution sources: a review

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Article: 2280526 | Received 02 Oct 2023, Accepted 02 Nov 2023, Published online: 20 Nov 2023
 

ABSTRACT

Recently, the use of plastics has become more widespread due to the vital role they play in daily life and human health. Plastic decomposes into microplastic (MP) in the soil. Owing to the negative consequences of soil MPs’ growth on both soil and human health, several studies conducted over the past 10 years have concentrated on identifying and tracking the origins of MPs in soil. These studies have demonstrated that soil MPs originate from a range of sources, including plastic films, fertilizers, runoff, sewage sludge, irrigation, and the atmosphere. Despite the efforts made to identify specific sources of soil MPs, a thorough analysis and comparison of the primary sources is still absent. By assembling the results of earlier research that demonstrate how irrigation, the atmosphere, and sewage sludge all contribute to the richness of soil MP, this review will aid in filling this knowledge gap. The MP abundance from each of these sources was compared using an analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of this investigation showed that plastic films are the largest and most significant contributors to soil microplastic contamination, owing to human overdependence on plastic films . Air deposition is the least common source of MPs . The amount of MP did not differ noticeably across irrigation, runoff, sewage sludge, and plastic film. This is because no nterference occurs when MPs from these sources interact with the soil. The findings of this study will be useful for choosing effective management and control techniques for sources of soil MP.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This research was financially supported by Korea Environmental Industry Technology Institute (KEITI) through Measurement and Risk assessment Program for Management of Microplastics Program, funded by Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) (2020003110010). Also this research was also supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (No.2019R1A6A1A03033167).