Pollution by microplastic in agricultural areas

This chapter introduces the issue of plastic pollution in agricultural soil. Plastic pollution occurs when diverse plastic materials such as pipes, plastic breeding tunnels or plastic mulch are fragmented into macroplastics (>5mm) and microplastics (<5mm), or when they are applied inadvertently with amendments such as composts or sewage sludge. The impacts of plastic particles on soil physical properties, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates are also discussed. The biotic and abiotic transport of micro and nanoplastics is explained briefly, and also their transfer into the food chain where their potential effects on various body systems of animals and humans, for example, those on human blood, have been documented.