Determination of plastic accumulation in soil from plastic mulch application in strawberry production

Öz

Using plastic mulch in agriculture greatly increases agricultural production on a global scale, but creates serious plastic pollution in the environment. The present study investigated the abundance and type of plastics in the agricultural soils of the Hüyük District of Konya, where a large amount of plastic mulch is applied in strawberry production since 2008 (H1) and 2017 (H5). NaCl (1.2 g cm-3) solution was used to extract plastics in soil samples. The number of plastic particules in plastic mulch covered soil for 14 years was 377.33 particles kg-1 while it was 75.53 particles kg-1 in plastic mulch covered soil for 5 years. The average size of all extracted plastics was calculated as 2.04±0.12 mm. The size of the plastics in the soil sample belonging to the H1 field was 1.98 ± 0.14 mm, it was found to be 2.30±0.32 mm in the H5 field. In the H1 field, 92.76% microplastic and 7.24% mesoplastic were detected and 82.35% microplastic and 17.65% mesoplastic were detected in the H5 field. It was revealed that the composition of the plastics determined as a result of Attenuated Total Reflectance- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) analyzes matched with the mulch material and the detected polymer type was polyethylene (PE), resulting from the applied mulching materials of the plastic particles. These findings confirm that using plastic mulch material in agriculture creates significant microplastic accumulation in terrestrial environments. Soil quality will inevitably decline day by day as a result of the accumulation of these plastics in the soil in the long term and their disintegration into smaller particles.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Soil
• Plastic Mulch
• Plastic Accumulation
• Extraction

Çilek üretiminde plastik malç uygulamasından kaynaklı toprakta plastik birikiminin belirlenmesi

Öz

Tarımda plastik malç kullanımı, küresel boyutta tarımsal üretimi büyük ölçüde artıran, ancak çevresel olarak ciddi miktarda plastik kirliliği yaratan bir uygulamadır. Bu çalışmada, 2008 (H1) ve 2017 (H5) yıllarından bu yana çilek üretiminde plastik malç uygulanan Konya ili Hüyük İlçesi tarım topraklarındaki plastik miktar ve türleri araştırılmıştır. Toprak örneklerinde plastikleri ekstrakte etmek için NaCl (1.2 g cm-3) çözeltisi kullanılmıştır. Topraktaki plastik partikül sayıları on dört yıl boyunca plastik malç kaplaması yapılan toprakta 377.33 partikül kg-1 bulunurken, 5 yıl boyunca plastik malç kaplaması yapılan toprakta ise 75.53 partikül kg-1 belirlenmiştir. Ekstrakte edilen tüm plastiklerin ortalama boyutu 2.04±0.12 mm olarak hesaplanmıştır. H1 tarlasına ait toprak örneğinde plastiklerin boyutu 1.98 ± 0.14 mm iken, H5 tarlasında ise 2.30±0.32 mm olarak bulunmuştur. H1 toprak örneğinde % 92.76 mikroplastik ve % 7.24 mezoplastik tespit edilmişken, H5 örneğinde % 82.35 mikroplastik ve % 17.65 mezoplastik tespit edilmiştir. Zayıflatılmış Toplam Reflektans - Fourier Dönüşümü Kızılötesi Spektroskopisi (ATR-FTIR) analizleri sonucu tespit edilen plastiklerin bileşiminin uygulanan malç materyali ile eşleştiği ve tespit edilen polimer türünün polietilen (PE) olduğu, bu durumun da plastik partiküllerin malç materyalinden kaynaklandığını ortaya koymuştur. Elde edilen bu bulgular, tarımda plastik malç materyali kullanımının karasal ortamlarda önemli mikroplastik birikimi oluşturduğunu doğrulamaktadır. Bu plastiklerin de uzun vadede toprakta birikmesi ve daha da küçük partiküllere ayrılması sonucu toprak kalitesinin bozulacağı kaçınılmazdır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Toprak
• Plastik malç
• Plastik birikimi
• Ekstraksiyon

Kaynakça

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