Identification and quantification of microplastics in agricultural farmland soil and textile sludge in Bangladesh

Abstract

Although microplastic (MP) pollution of aquatic ecosystems is a high-priority study topic, the issue of terrestrial environment and textile manufacturing waste has received little attention. Thus, this study was carried out to investigate the presence of MPs in agricultural land near textile industries and textile sludge samples in Bangladesh. Thirty-two soil samples from four agricultural farmland and five sludge samples were collected and analyzed. We show that the MPs content from agricultural farmland soil and textile sludge samples was 2.13 × 104 ± 0.13 × 104 MPs/kg and 2.92 × 104 ± 0.14 × 104 MPs/kg, respectively. MPs with a size between 1.0 and 1.5 mm were the least frequent in both soil and textile sludge samples. Fibers were more prevalent in textile sludge and fragments in soil samples. In addition, the percentage of transparent/white MPs was higher in the soil samples, and those classified as “multicolor” and “others” were more frequent in the sludge samples. Nine types of polymers were identified in the soil samples: PS, EVA, latex, HDPE, PVC, ABS, CA, LDPE, and PP. Except for LDPE, all these polymers were also found in the textile sludge samples, in addition to PU, nylon, and FEP, totaling eleven polymer types. On the other hand, we did not find evidence to support the association between MP contamination in soil samples and MPs identified in textile sludge samples. As demonstrated in the principal components analysis (PCA), the analyzed samples were separated by PC1, which suggests that the MPs reported in the soil come from sources that are not directly related to the textile industries. Thus, further research is needed to fully reveal MPs' fate and ecological risks in the soil environment and textile sludge, and necessary action is required to control MP pollution in terrestrial ecosystems.