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Investigation of microplastic pollution on paddy fields in Xiangtan City, Southern China

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Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) have become a hot issue of environmental pollution. However, insufficient evidence exists regarding the distributions and fates of MPs in terrestrial environment, especially in farmlands. The distributions of MPs in paddy fields were investigated in Xiangtan City, a typical rice production area in China. The abundance of MPs in paddy seedling raising fields was 3805 ± 511 n·kg−1, which increased by approximately 9 times than that in common paddy fields. Transparent films became the dominant forms due to the huge usage of mulching films, corresponding to that the proportion of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) increased to 17% there. Moreover, an industrial plant nearby also contributed considerably to the MP pollution; the proportion of PVC (33%) in the paddy fields nearby increased to approximately 4 times of common paddy fields, while polyvinyl alcohol (PVA; 13%) used as an important chemical raw material to synthesis in various applications was uniquely detected there. These results highlight the input of MPs from agricultural and industrial activities in farmlands. Their contributions to the MP pollution in farmlands should be continuously investigated.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41807487&41907329), and the National College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of China (202010060009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Hazardous Waste Safety Disposal and Recycling Technology, School of Environmental Science and Safety Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, 391 Binshui West Rode, Xiqing District, Tianjin, 300384, China

    Yudi Wang, Wenjie Cui, Zhenghua Duan, Haihong Zhang & Haodong Cheng

  2. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Tianjin, 300191, China

    Li Qin

  3. Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China

    Lei Wang

Authors
  1. Yudi Wang
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  2. Wenjie Cui
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  3. Zhenghua Duan
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  4. Li Qin
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  5. Haihong Zhang
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  6. Haodong Cheng
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  7. Lei Wang
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Contributions

Yudi Wang: methodology, writing—original draft preparation; Wenjie Cui, Haihong Zhang, Haodong Cheng: investigation, data curation; Zhenghua Duan: supervision; Li Qin: resources; Lei Wang: writing—reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Zhenghua Duan.

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Wang, Y., Cui, W., Duan, Z. et al. Investigation of microplastic pollution on paddy fields in Xiangtan City, Southern China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 81300–81307 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21415-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21415-3

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