Microplastic in Swiss Agricultural Soils

Microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment are of great concern, mostly because of their ubiquity and possible negative effects on organisms. This is especially relevant in soils as healthy soils are of not only ecological importance but also a prerequisite for human food production. This is also the reason why agricultural soils are of special importance. One the one hand agricultural soils are exposed to a variety of plastics from e.g. mulch film residues, recycling fertilizers or seed and fertilizer coatings. One the other hand they have a high importance in the ecosystem and for food production.

Nanoplastics are in the size range <1µm and might either be emitted or from bigger plastics by decomposition, UV induced breakdown or physically forced breakdown. The research about nanoplastics is still at its very beginning due to technical limitations in the analysis of nanoplastics. We are working on the extraction of nanoplastics from soils and methods to analyze nanoplastics. Beside scanning electron microscopy we test scanning transmission X-ray microscopy in combination with near edge X-ray absorption fine structure at the carbon K-edge for the characterization of nano sized plastic particles.