The Impact of Microplastics On The Soil: A Mini-Review On Sources, Pre-Treatment, And Characterization

Authors

• Derval dos Santos Rosa, Emília Mori Sarti Fernandes, Rafaela Reis Ferreira Center for Engineering, Modeling, and Applied Social Sciences - CECS, Federal University of ABC (UFABC), São Paulo, 09210-580, Brazil.

Abstract

Currently, polymers have been the subject of several studies because of by-products known as microplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm). Due to the complexity of the heterogeneous soil matrix, it is difficult to study microplastics in the soil, especially considering differences in methods adopted for sampling, extraction, and quantification of the particles in various studies that analyze microplastics in soil samples.Thus, the article presents a review of studies on the analysis of microplastics in the terrestrial environment, aiming to identifythe advantages and disadvantages of methods for analyzing polymeric fragments. Theresults show substantial variation in the techniques proposed, including sieving, digestion, density separation, and filtration to extract fragments in samples. On the other hand, the methods usually adopted to identify and characterize polymers in soil refer to combinations to perform classification and spectroscopies, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In conclusion, a combination of methodologies for the characterization of polymers in soil samples seems to be more efficient for detecting and analyzing particles and overcome analytical challenges, thus providing more effective monitoring of microplastic soil contamination