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Soil Pollution by Micro- and Nanoplastics: An Overview

Abstract:

Annual releases of plastic to the terrestrial environment are 4 to 23 times as high as releases to the marine environment. Microplastics can enter the soil by many routes, for example, compost and sewage sludge as fertilizer, plastic mulching, irrigation and flooding, and atmospheric deposition. The process of top-down irrigation into the soil causes microplastics/nanoplastics (MPs/NPs) to be transported downwards along with soil cavities and eventually possibly into groundwater. Contact of toxic and harmful metal pollutants with MPs/NPs will inevitably occur during the migration process in the environment. Various factors are considered in their transportation such as microplastic properties, pore water forms, and properties of packing materials to influence microplastic transport that can indicate the environmental chance of MPs in soil conditions. Among the important roles in the environmental behavior of MPs/NPs are absorption and migration. Microplastic or nanoplastic particles as a carrier adsorb contaminants and increase or decrease their transportation. The transfer of MPs in the soil environment occurs in the form of vertical and horizontal migration and nonliving transport. MPs are known to adsorb toxic chemicals such as PCBs, PAHs, DDTs, PFASs, PPCPs, and heavy metals. Overall, this chapter provides introductory information about the terrestrial pollution of MPs and the structure of this edited volume.