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Influence of polyethylene-microplastic on environmental behaviors of metals in soil

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Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) in terrestrial ecosystems have attracted increasing attention all over the world. The adsorption-desorption behavior and bioavailability of metals in soil would affect its toxicity to organisms. However, the influences of MPs on adsorption-desorption behavior between metals and soil as well as bioavailability of metals in soils are scarcely investigated. Herein, different percentage (0, 0.1%, 1%, 10%) of polyethylene-microplastic (PE-MP) were thoroughly mixed into the soil to investigate the impacts of PE-MP on adsorption-desorption and bioavailability of metals (Zn2+, Pb2+) in the soil. A series of characterization were carried out to determine the change of PE-MP before and after adsorption to investigate the mechanisms. When MP100 (average size: 129 μm) content in soil increased to 10%, the adsorption capacities of soil with Pb2+ and Zn2+ were 3.73 and 4.56 mg/g, respectively, which were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than that of pure soil. When MP300 (average size: 293 μm) content in soil increased to 10%, the extraction fraction of Zn2+ and Pb2+ from soil by diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid reached 12.35% and 23.96%, respectively, which were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of pure soil, indicating high concentration (10%) of MPs in soil would decrease the adsorption capability of soil to metals and increase the mobility of metals in terrestrial environment. However, when MPs content in soil was 0.1%, the extraction fraction of Zn2+ and Pb2+ showed no significant difference with that of pure soil, indicating that actual MPs in soil is unlikely to bring significant influence on metal bioavailability.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

We are grateful to the grants from China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (2019M661238), Hei Long Jiang Postdoctoral Foundation (LBH-Z19109).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China

    Ming Li, Dedong Wu, Hongliang Guo & Song Han

  2. College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China

    Di Wu

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  1. Ming Li
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  2. Dedong Wu
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  3. Di Wu
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  4. Hongliang Guo
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  5. Song Han
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Contributions

Ming Li: Investigation, Methodology, Writing-Original draft preparation

Dedong Wu: Validation

Di Wu: Formal analysis

Hongliang Guo: Resources

Song Han: Supervision, Conceptualization, Reviewing and Editing

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Correspondence to Ming Li or Song Han.

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Responsible editor: Kitae Baek

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Li, M., Wu, D., Wu, D. et al. Influence of polyethylene-microplastic on environmental behaviors of metals in soil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 28329–28336 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12718-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12718-y

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