Plastic contamination in agricultural soils: a review

Sa’adu, Ibrahim; Farsang, Andrea

doi:10.1186/s12302-023-00720-9

Environmental Sciences Europe

Table 1 Abundance of microplastics in agricultural soils

From: Plastic contamination in agricultural soils: a review

Country	Plastic source	Soil type	Crop(s)	Abundance		Composition	References
Country	Plastic source	Soil type	Crop(s)	Macro	Micro	Composition	References
Hungary	Greenhouse	Arable land	Tomatoes	6.4 kg h⁻¹	225 ± 61.69 pieces kg⁻¹	PE, PVC, and PP	[36]
China	Mulch	Arable land	Maize	6796 ± 1070 pieces m⁻²	8885 and 2899 pieces kg⁻¹	PE, PP, and PET	[57]
China	Mulch	Upland land	Maize		754 ± 477 items kg⁻¹	PP, PE, PET, and PES	[52]
China	Sludge	Paddy land	Rice and wheat		149.2 ± 52.5, 68.6 ± 21.5, and 73.1 ± 15.4 particles kg^{− 1}	PES, PP, and PS-AC	[22]
China	Plastic gauze	Arable land	NA		1629.68 tons year⁻¹	NA	[26]
Japan	Coated fertilizer	Paddy land	Rice		144 mg kg⁻¹	PE	[37]
Thailand	Mix	Mix	Cabbage, pumpkin, guava, etc.		12–117 items m⁻²	PE, LDPE, PP, and PS	[59]
India	Mulch	Arable land	Tomatoes		37.97%, 35.07%, and 36.99% plastic residue	NA	[61]
Korea	Mix	Mix	Rice and vegetables		664 pieces kg⁻¹	PE and PP	[66]
Switzerland	Mulch	Drainage water	Vegetables		10.5 ± 9.5 N L⁻¹		[70]
Germany	Sludge	Arable land	NA		14.6 MP g⁻¹	PES, PA, PVC, PAN, etc.	[51]
Greece	Film	Greenhouse	Watermelon and tomatoes		301 ± 140 and 69 ± 38 items kg⁻¹	PE and BMF	[54]
Spain and Netherland	Mix	Mix	Broccoli, celery, and watermelon		2242 ± 984 and 888 ± 500 MPs kg⁻¹	NA	[43]
Switzerland	Organic compost	Arable land	NA		22.4 ± 3.3 tons year⁻¹	NA	[71]
Tanzania	N.A	Irrigation land	NA	0.5–5.5 kg	0.21–1.50 items g⁻¹	PET, HDLE, LPE, PS, etc.	[53]
Mauritius	Mix	Arable land	Vegetables		320.0 ± 112.2 and 420.0 ± 244.0 particles kg⁻¹	PP and PA	[56]
Tunisia	Mix	Mix	NA		13.21 ± 0.89 to 852.24 ± 124.2 items kg⁻¹	PEVA, PE, PBAT, and PP	[25]
Chile	Mix	Mix	NA		306 ± 360–184 ± 266 particles kg⁻¹	PE, PP, and PS	[62]
Canada	Biosolid	Arable land	NA		4.1 × 1011 and 1.3 × 1012 particles	PE, PP, PS, etc.	[58]
Mexico	Mulch	Arable land	NA		400–2000 particles kg⁻¹	LDPE

NA not applicable

Back to article page