Scientists have again learned more precisely how plastic pollution enters the environment. It turns out that farmers are spreading tiny pieces of plastic right on the field. Based on a long series of data, British researchers say that agricultural fertilizers are a major source of microplastics.
Samuel Cusworth of Lancaster University and his colleagues studied soil samples held at the Rothamsted Agricultural Science Centre, collected since 1843.
There are three types of samples in this venerable collection: from completely unfertilized soil, from soil fertilized with organic fertilizer, and from soil fertilized with mineral fertilizer.
Cusworth and colleagues noted a significant increase in microplastics in all three types of soil samples over the past half century.
However, more than in completely unfertilized soil, this increase is evident in fertilized soil, both with organic and mineral fertilizers.
That’s what Cusworth and co-authors write in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.
According to scientists, microplastics enter mineral fertilizers almost on purpose, because the fertilizer granules are often covered with a layer of polymer, with the aim of releasing the nutrients over time.
However, microplastics can find their way into organic fertilizer, for example, if animals whose manure contains the fertilizer were fed feed that already contained plastic.
Every year, 450 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, of which approximately 12.5 million tons are used in agriculture. However, microplastic particles are released from plastic both during the use of plastic products and after they are thrown into landfill.
The speed of degradation of plastic depends both on the molecular structure of the plastic itself and on the environmental conditions that act on the material. And although biodegradable plastics are designed to degrade into carbon dioxide, they don’t always biodegrade completely.
The durability and strength of plastic is precisely one of the fundamental properties, which is why this material is so widely used, but these same properties get a minus at the exact moment when a plastic product becomes plastic pollution.
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2024-01-29 06:23:00
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