Microplastic Pollution in the Soil Environment: Characteristics, Influencing Factors, and Risks

Chunhui Wang (), Junhong Tang, Haixia Yu, Yiyi Wang, Huanxuan Li, Shaodan Xu, Gang Li and Qian Zhou
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Chunhui Wang: College of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Junhong Tang: College of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Haixia Yu: Hangzhou Ecological and Environment Monitoring Center of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310007, China
Yiyi Wang: Hangzhou Ecological and Environment Monitoring Center of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310007, China
Huanxuan Li: College of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Shaodan Xu: College of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Gang Li: Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Urban Environment Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
Qian Zhou: Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: As plastic products are widely used in all walks of life, plastic waste is also accumulating in the environment. Today, microplastic pollution in the soil environment has become an environmental issue of global concern. Compared with the water environment, the research on microplastics in the soil environment is relatively lacking. Based on the above situation, this paper systematically reviews the distribution characteristics, influencing factors, and environmental and ecological risks of microplastics in the soil environment. The abundance, distribution characteristics, and impacts of microplastics in soils globally in recent years are reviewed in detail. Our review suggests that most scholars only focus on the surface soil, and the determination of the accumulation of microplastics in the soil as a whole is still lacking, and there is still no uniform standard for sampling techniques, extraction methods, analytical procedures, and even expression units for soil microplastics. The distribution of microplastics in soil is affected by human factors, natural factors, and the physical and chemical properties of the plastics themselves. We also focused on the analysis of the environmental risks arising from the accumulation of microplastics in soil interacting with metals and organic pollutants, and found that large research gaps exist in the interaction between microplastics and pollutants in the soil and the mechanism of compound pollution. The impact and ecological risks of microplastics on animals, microorganisms, and plants in the soil are explained. Moreover, key suggestions for future research are presented based on the current research status, and we call for more efforts focusing on the occurrence and fate of microplastics in the soil environment.

Keywords: microplastics; soil; abundance; ecological risk; environmental risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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