Kentsel Atıksu İle Sulanan Tarım Topraklarında Mikroplastik Kirliliği Ve Risk Değerlendirmesi

Although a high percentage of microplastics (MP) are removed in wastewater treatment plants, a significant portion is released into the environment through wastewater discharges. The use of wastewater for irrigation transports microplastics to agricultural soil. Despite the increasing global use of treated and untreated wastewater for irrigation, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, the burden of microplastics reaching agricultural soils from wastewater has not yet been adequately investigated. Microplastic pollution in soil is a major concern with unknown consequences for sustainable agricultural activities. Within the scope of this study, microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils irrigated with urban wastewater for many years and the potential risks to agricultural ecosystems were investigated. For this purpose, 202 soil samples taken at depths of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm from 11 control and 90 wastewater-irrigated soils were analyzed for microplastic quantity, color, shape, and polymer type. The risk level of microplastic pollution detected in the soil was determined by the pollution factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), and polymer risk index (H). In addition, the relationship between some physicochemical properties of the soil and microplastics was analyzed. While the average microplastics counts in the control soils were 169 MP/kg (100-220 MP/kg) and 140 MP/kg (80-240 MP/kg) for soil depths of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm, respectively, they were determined as 329 MP/kg (100-840 MP/kg) and 295 MP/kg (80-660 MP/kg) in soils irrigated with wastewater taken from the same soil depths. It was found that there was a significant difference (P