Agricultural plastic films have been found to be quite useful, but they also pollute the environment with plastic waste and related toxins. Phthalates (phthalic acid esters, PAEs), an important additive of agricultural films, can potentially be released and contaminate the environment. In this study, agricultural plastic usage in China is being assessed and a method to estimate PAE emissions from agricultural films have been developed. The environmental fate of PAEs were evaluated using a fugacity-based multimedia model. The agricultural plastic film usage in China in 2017 was found to be 2,528,600 tons. During its lifetime, the agricultural film released a total of 91.5 tons of two typical types of PAEs. PAEs from the mulching film would mostly be removed through degradation, while those from the greenhouse film accumulate in vegetables. The findings from this study demonstrated the serious agricultural plastic pollution problem and associated PAE contamination in many regions of China.
The current study examines the contamination of microplastics in three greenhouse types: abandoned, normal, and simple. The findings revealed that the abundance of microplastics was found to be the highest in the abandoned greenhouse, followed by the normal greenhouse and simple greenhouse. The mean abundance of microplastic organic fertilizer and irrigation water was also high.[…]
The study examines the distribution of residual film after eight years of film mulching in mid-April 2018. Results from the study revealed that eight years of mulching significantly increased the quantity of agricultural mulch film residues in the soil. The size of residual film fragments was found to vary from 0.25 cm2 to 109 cm2,[…]
A study in Yuanmou County, Yunnan Province, investigated microplastic pollution in different land uses, including facility farmland, traditional farmland, orchard, grassland, and woodland. Results showed a significant difference in microplastic abundance and characteristics between different land use types. Facility farmlands, traditional farmlands, and orchard lands had higher microplastic abundance than grasslands and woodlands. The main[…]
The study analysed 225 soil samples from maize planting zones in northern China, revealing that long-term plastic film mulching increases microplastic pollution in agricultural soils. The abundance of microplastics was significantly higher in mulched soils (754 ± 477 items kg-1) than in non-mulched soils (376 ± 149 items kg-1). The length of time with film[…]
The study examined the relative abundances and morphological distributions of microplastics (MPs) in water, sediments, and farmland soils in the Caohai Lake region. The estuary in the study area was considered a potential sink for MP transportation. Transparent and black MPs accounted for a large proportion of MPs in the five environments, with possible sources[…]