Impact Of Microplastics On Soil Nutrients

The impact of plastics on our environment has gathered huge attention recently following the awareness raised by the BBC landmark series, Blue Planet II where the Open University was a partner. There is a growing public drive and commitment from all stakeholders to remove plastics from our environment through identification of the level of pollution, implementation of clean-up operations (such as beach cleaning) and reduction of usage. It is relatively easy to identify and clean up large and visible plastics present in our environment, but once these are broken down into smaller particles such as microplastics (MPs), it is extremely challenging to identify their presence, record their movement and clean them up. MPs have now been identified everywhere on Earth, yet we know little about their impact on our living environment.
The presence of MPs (<5 mm to 500 m) in our natural water system is well known. However, the flow of MPs from the source to our environment through the water cycle, into the soil and its impact on soil nutrients are less well quantified. Additionally, a recent study of UK Water Industry Research showed that our water treatment plants are effectively removing MPs but revealed the presence of MPs in the wastewater and sludge treatment line1. One-way MPs are finding ways into the soil is land application of sewage sludge and from wastewater discharged into the water bodies2. This project will investigate: how MPs move from the wastewater and sludge into our living environment and its impact on soil nutrients, biota and plants. The sampling of water and sediments at the source to the exit point will be carried out to identify flow3 of MPs in the natural and wastewater systems, interaction of MPs on soil nutrients and impact on soil biota and plants.