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. 2020 Jan 29;17(3):845.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17030845.

Pollution Characteristics of Microplastics in Soils in Southeastern Suburbs of Baoding City, China

Chuan Du  1   2 , Handong Liang  1   2 , Zhanping Li  3 , Jie Gong  1   2
Affiliations

Pollution Characteristics of Microplastics in Soils in Southeastern Suburbs of Baoding City, China

Chuan Du et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are emerging pollutants that exist in different environmental media. Because of their wide range and large potential environmental hazards, they have attracted widespread attention in recent years. At present, the research on MP is mostly concentrated on the water ecosystems, and the impact on soil ecosystems is less studied. In this study, 12 typical soil samples from southeastern suburbs of Baoding city were investigated and characterized by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) combined with mass high resolution mode and positive and negative ion imaging mode. Four types of MPs, poly (propylene) (PP), poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC), poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and poly (amide 6) (PA6), were quickly identified, of which PET and PA6 accounted for the largest proportion of both up to 30.2%; the particle size of the obtained MPs ranged from 0 to 35 μm, of which the proportion of <10 μm MPs was more than 26.3%, while that of 20-25 μm and 25-35 μm MPs was relatively small (17.83% and 9.3%, respectively). Risk assessment results of the MP in the soil showed that the risk level of MPs in the non-ferrous metal industrial parks and in concentrated with small workshops areas is relatively high, and attention should be paid to such areas. In addition, the study provides a reference method for the investigation and risk assessment of MPs in terrestrial soils, coastal beaches, and sediments.

Keywords: TOF-SIMS; microplastics; pollution characteristics; risk assessment; soil.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Positive ion spectra obtained XA1.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) maps of some characteristic ions of MPs in XA1 (a–e) PP; (f–h) PA6; (i–k) PET; (l–n) PVC.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Ion-imaging superimposed images of four MPs (a) XA1; (b) XA2; (c) XA3; (d) XA4; (e) XA5; (f) XA6; (g) XA7; (h) XA8; (i) XA9; (j) XA10; (k) XA11; (l) XA12; 500 μm × 500 μm, 128 × 128 pixel.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Particle size, type and abundance of MPs in soil. (a) Particle size composition and relative content of MPs in soil; (b) Composition and relative content of MPs types in soils; (c) Particle size composition of different types of MPs in the soil.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Risk degree of MPs in the study area. Different colors represent different polymer risk indexes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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