Project

Identifying microplastics in agricultural sites in Brabant

This project is financed by Plastic Soup Foundation. In the last decades the use of plastic mulch has increased extensively in the Netherlands, oil based and bio based plastic mulches are found in the agricultural lands. The concern occurs when those plastic mulches are not collected or are buried, therefore occurred the fragmentation of the plastic mulches, and microplastics are produced.

Microplastics are known to produce effects on soil biota, disturbing consequently soil ecosystem services. Microplastics are not static, they move by the action of wind and water, therefore microplastics are also found in water bodies surrounding the agricultural lands as well microplastics are transported by the wind.

Main aim: to identify the distribution of microplastics in agricultural sites under plastic mulch and compost use. The outcomes are microplastics concentration, size and type per soil, water and dust matrices.