Are Agricultural Soils Dumps for Microplastics of Urban Origin?

Nizzetto, Luca; Futter, Martyn N.; Langaas, Sindre

doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b04140

Cited by 1,273 publications

(507 citation statements)

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“…Agricultural watersheds have previously been associated with high prevalence of microplastics in fishes (Campbell et al 2017;McNeish et al 2018) and agricultural soils have the potential to be a source of microplastics (Nizzetto et al 2016). WWTPs are thought to be key contributors to MP contamination in freshwater systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic prevalence in two fish species in two U.S. reservoirs

Hurt

O’Reilly

Perry

2020

Limnol Oceanogr Letters

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The emergence of microplastics as a potential contaminant requires understanding the distribution and potential consumption of microplastics across ecosystems and species. Freshwater environments are known to have high concentrations of microplastics, but very little is known about the concentrations of microplastics within lacustrine fish. The very high prevalence and numbers of microplastics in two fish species in agricultural reservoirs in this study indicates that lacustrine fish may be at high risk of microplastic contamination. AbstractMicroplastics in the environment can impact feeding and physiological functions of organisms. Most studies have focused on marine systems, and studies of lacustrine organisms are less common. We examined microplastic concentration in 72 gizzard shad and 24 largemouth bass from two agricultural reservoirs in the midwestern U.S.A. with differing shoreline development. Microplastics were found in 100% of the fish, with 1-49 No. Fish −1 , independent of shoreline development. Bass had higher concentrations overall than shad. For bass, microplastics were more concentrated in the guts rather than gills, but the opposite was the case for shad, suggesting that feeding guild may influence where microplastics accumulate in fishes. The prevalence and concentrations reported here are greater than reported in marine systems and higher than reported in riverine studies. Our results underscore the ubiquitous distribution of microplastics and suggest that lake ecosystems in agricultural landscapes may be particularly susceptible to microplastic contamination.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic prevalence in two fish species in two U.S. reservoirs

Hurt

O’Reilly

Perry

2020

Limnol Oceanogr Letters

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“…One important consideration is that the processes 67 governing distribution and exposure to plastics are not necessarily exclusive to a specific 68 environmental 'compartment' (e.g. plastics within a shallow freshwater system may be exposed to 69 regulations on harmful substances within sludge applied to land, microplastics are not yet considered 222 by these and thus the mass of microplastics inadvertently applied to land annually may exceed 223 400,000 tonnes -higher than the mass currently estimated to be present in oceanic surface waters 224 worldwide (Nizzetto et al, 2016b). Zubris & Richards (2005) found that soils with a known history of 225 sewage sludge application contained significantly higher concentrations of synthetic microfibres than 226 soils which had not received sewage sludge.…”

Section: Introduction 44mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on 475 this assumption we estimate how much of this mismanaged waste, plus the additional source of 476 microplastics from sewage sludge application, is likely to remain on land annually within Europe 477 (Table 2). 478 479 calculated at 520,000 metric tonnes (plastic waste -managed waste).In addition to this, it is estimated 491 that between 63,000 and 430,000 metric tonnes of microplastics in sewage sludge are deposited on 492 land annually (Nizzetto et al, 2016b). As a result we calculate that in the EU between 473,000 and 493 910,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste is released and retained annually within continental 494 environments, between 4 and 23 times the amount estimated to be released to oceans (Table 2).…”

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confidence: 99%

Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities

Horton

Walton

Spurgeon

et al. 2017

Science of The Total Environment

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977

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Lahive, Elma; Svendsen, Claus. 2017. Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities.Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner.Crown

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“…Despite their recent entry into the microplastic literature, soils may be even more prone to such pollution than oceans, due to greater estimated release of plastic to terrestrial systems (Horton, Walton, Spurgeon, Lahive, & Svendsen, ). Indeed, microplastics are often more abundant in soils than in ocean waters on a mass/mass or particles/mass basis (He et al, ; Rezania et al, ); the world's agricultural soils alone could hold more microplastic mass than oceanic surface waters (Nizzetto, Futter, & Langaas, ). That said, to assume a given w/w microplastic concentration in soil has the same ecological effect or indicates the same level of environmental harm as that concentration in seawater is likely unwise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an ecology of soil microplastics

2019

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Microplastic pollution is a topic of increasing concern for the world's oceans, freshwaters and, most recently, soils. Microplastics have been found in soils across the globe. Like other anthropogenic pollutants, they can negatively affect a range of soil organisms through several mechanisms, though often dependent on particle size, shape and polymer type. However, microplastics are unique among pollutants due to the diversity of ways in which soil organisms may themselves be able to affect their occurrence and distribution and mediate their effects on the rest of the soil food web. In this review, we argue for a more explicitly ecological framing of this novel issue for the soil environment and discuss their potential interactions with soil communities, including microplastic formation via microbial and faunal fragmentation of large plastic debris and organisms such as earthworms placing microplastic particles in unique pedological contexts they could not otherwise reach. Ecological interactions may be crucial for dictating microplastics’ ultimate fate and effect on terrestrial ecosystems. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

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Are Agricultural Soils Dumps for Microplastics of Urban Origin?

Cited by 1,273 publications

References 4 publications

Microplastic prevalence in two fish species in two U.S. reservoirs

Microplastic prevalence in two fish species in two U.S. reservoirs

Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities

Towards an ecology of soil microplastics

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