Presentation at the AquaConSoil 2023

AquaConSoil is a bi-yearly event where scientists, policy- and decisionmakers and industry representatives gather to learn, share and engage on sustainable use and management of soil, sediment and water resources. MOMENTUMs Petra Krystek, work package leader of WP7, held a presentation about microplastics, of which you can find the abstract below.

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Plastics are everywhere, including in the soil. But what are the risks for us?

Petra Krystek (Deltares), Stefan Kools (KWR) and Bas Coolsma (Antea Group)

One of the major environmental issues in soil and water management is the presence of plastics. Awareness is growing that pollution of water and soil with plastics must be prevented. For this aim, there are more and more initiatives to limit the increasing plastic pollution. This mainly concerns the visible problems with littering plastics such as plastic bags, bottles and packaging in the environment. However, little is known about the fate and impact of smaller plastic particles (micro- and nanoplastics or MNP). More knowledge about degradation, spread and exposure to MNP is needed to assess the impact on human health and the environment.

Knowledge about plastics in the soil is also still a young branch of science. In addition to the unintentional pollution by plastics, many plastics are also used for infrastructure as building or isolation material, in geotechnical engineering and in agriculture. This deliberately brings them into contact with water and soil. On the one hand, many plastics have been in use for a long time, but the knowledge about their full stability and inertness is very limited. Over a long period of time, plastic particles but also substances (additives) could be released from the plastics and end up in the soil and furthermore, for example, end up in our food chain via plants.

The health risks of MNP are investigated internationally with great relevance. Developing solution routes is key and insights into the design and progress of the ongoing research about health and environmental impact will be shared. It also discusses how the sector and policymakers can contribute to the development and application of this knowledge.

Starting points on the adequate risk-oriented action points in relation to potential effects of (micro)plastics in the environment (soil and water) are examined in more detail and significant insights with the state of affairs will also be shared during this presentation.

References
[1]         Momentum | Universiteit Utrecht | Homepage (momentummicroplastics.nl)