MICROPLASTICS IN TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS: SOIL HEALTH AND CROP UPTAKE ASSESSMENT

Abstract

Microplastics are emerging as a typical pollutant in land-based ecosystems without much understanding of their impact on soil health and crop productivity.  Through controlled greenhouse experiment, this paper examines the impact of microplastic pollution on soil physical and chemical properties, plant growth, and plastic uptake within farming regimes.  We increased the amount of microplastics in the soil samples and observed changes in pH, bulk density, field capacity and organic matter.  The findings demonstrated that availability of microplastics altered the Hydrological structure of the soil and the degree of its water holding capacity. With higher pollution rates, the bulk density reduced and the field capacity declined with a maximum of 15%.  Plants cultivated on soils that contained a high level of microplastic were severely stressed as their height dropped by 20 per cent, their biomass decrease by 18 per cent, their chlorophyll and relative water content (RWC) decreased by a lot.   Scientists also examined the content of microplastic in the tissues of plants. They established that roots contained the highest particles with an average of 15 particles per gramme.  This demonstrates that the particles might end up in the entire plant via absorption and ultimately move to the food chain.   The association between soil organic matter and plant biomass was high (r = 0.71) and similarly, there was high correlation between field capacity and chlorophyll content in the field (r = 0.66).  It implies that the quality of the soil influences the extent to which crops can overcome that stress linked to microplastic.   These links were also verified through regression and ANOVA, where all the plant characteristics under consideration were influenced by the treatment in a significant way (p < 0.05).   The report further indicates that the composition of the soil microplastic contained mainly polyethylene and polypropylene and plants had the responsibility of absorbing the microplastic with a size of 100-300 um.   These findings inform us of significant details concerning the impact of soil microplastic contamination on the activity of agroecosystems. They also illustrate how the necessity to address this issue on a timely basis (through the change of the rules, the use of a smaller number of plastics, and the restructuring of the farming process) is critical.