Microplastics in soils: assessment, analytics and risks
João Pinto da Costa A B C , Ana Paço B , Patrícia S. M. Santos A B , Armando C. Duarte A B and Teresa Rocha-Santos A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Center for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
B Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
C Corresponding author. Email: jpintocosta@ua.pt
João Pinto da Costa received his BSc degree in Biotechnological Engineering from the University of Algarve (Portugal) in 2005 and his MSc degree in Medical Diagnostics from Cranfield University (UK) in 2005. He was awarded his PhD degree in Environmental Chemistry in 2014 from the Center for Marine Sciences (University of Algarve, Portugal) and he has been a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal) since 2017. His main research interests are emergent pollutants and environmental analytical chemistry. |
Ana Paço graduated with a degree in Biotechnology from University of Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal) in 2016, and is currently a master’s student in the Applied Biology department at the University of Aveiro. She is presently working on her master’s thesis in the biodegradation of microplastics. Her main research interests are in environmental analytical chemistry and bioremediation strategies. |
Patrícia S. M. Santos graduated in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Coimbra (2002), and completed her MSc in Instrumental Methods and Analytical Control (2006) and PhD degree in Chemistry (2011) at the University of Aveiro. Since obtaining her PhD degree she has worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies at the University of Aveiro. Her main research interests are in environmental analytical chemistry, atmospheric chemistry and technologies for removal of contaminants from water. |
Armando C. Duarte obtained a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Porto (Porto, Portugal), and received his PhD degree in Public Health Engineering from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK) in 1981. He has been a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal) since 1995. His main research interests are in environmental analytical chemistry. |
Teresa Rocha-Santos is a graduate in Analytical Chemistry (1996), and obtained a PhD in Chemistry (2000) and an Aggregation in Chemistry (2018), both from the University of Aveiro, Portugal. In 2001, she was awarded a prize for her PhD studies in the area of urban environments. Her research concentrates on the development of new analytical methodologies fit for purpose and on the study of the fate of contaminants (such as microplastics) and their behaviour in the environment and during wastewater treatment. She has published 143 scientific papers (as of October 2018) and she is the editor of seven books. |
Environmental Chemistry 16(1) 18-30 https://doi.org/10.1071/EN18150
Submitted: 9 July 2018 Accepted: 1 November 2018 Published: 26 November 2018
Environmental context. There is increasing concern from both the general public and the scientific community about microplastic-related pollution. Despite the alarming and well-documented accumulation of plastics in the marine environment, little attention has been paid to the sources, fate and effects of microplastics in terrestrial settings. We overview the prevalence of microplastics in soils, evaluate their impacts, and appraise the current difficulties in their determinations in terms of sampling, isolation and identification.
Abstract. There has been an increasing interest by both the general public and the scientific community in microplastic-related pollution. Owing to their physical and chemical characteristics, these highly ubiquitous contaminants may be ingested by numerous organisms at the base of food-webs. Furthermore, owing to their tendency to adsorb other chemical substances, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), these plastic particles can lead to bioaccumulation and bioamplification phenomena, which significantly increases their potential environmental effects. However, most of the current research available is focussed on the prevalence and effects of these materials in water, and, more precisely, in oceans. Although this is understandable, owing to the alarming accumulation of plastics in this environmental compartment, little attention has been paid to the sources, fate and effects of microplastics (MPs) in terrestrial settings. This is further complicated by the current lack of universally accepted methods for the assessment and identification of MPs, not only in liquid, but also in solid matrices. We overview the most current data regarding the presence and prevalence of MPs in soils and evaluate their recognised impacts and potential consequences. We also appraise the current sampling, isolation and identification methodologies and suggest methods that may contribute to the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the sampling and characterisation of these pervasive pollutants in complex matrices, such as soils.
Additional keywords : ecotoxicology, terrestrial environment, pollution.
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