State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jul 1;828:154518. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154518. Epub 2022 Mar 10.
Microplastics are widely detected in terrestrial environments. However, microplastic features in the soil of remote areas are still sparse. In this study, microplastic pollution in soil across the Tibetan Plateau was systematically investigated. The results revealed that microplastic was ubiquitous in the soil of the Tibetan Plateau with an average abundance of 47.12 items/kg-dry weight (range: 5-340 items/kg). Compared with the published data of soil microplastic pollution in other regions, the microplastic pollution in the Tibetan Plateau was relatively low. Fibers represented 43.54% of microplastic particles detected, followed by fragments (32.20%) and films (23.78%). They mainly consisted of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene. Transparent and white microplastics were prevalent, and small microplastics (50-500 μm) occupied approximately 66% of all microplastics. High values of microplastics were found near Lhasa, Naqu, and Linzhi. Furthermore, microplastic pollution was found to be negatively related to the distance to the nearest city (p < 0.01), wind velocity (p = 0.014), altitude (p = 0.181), yet positively related to precipitation (p = 0.024). This work presents new insights into the magnitude of microplastics contamination in the soil across the Tibetan Plateau and supplies valuable data for future research on ecotoxicology, ecosystem impacts, and earth system feedback of microplastics on terrestrial ecosystems.
微塑料广泛存在于陆地环境中。然而，偏远地区土壤中的微塑料特征仍然较少。在本研究中，系统地调查了青藏高原土壤中的微塑料污染。结果表明，微塑料在青藏高原土壤中普遍存在，平均丰度为 47.12 个/千克-干重（范围：5-340 个/千克）。与其他地区土壤微塑料污染的已发表数据相比，青藏高原的微塑料污染相对较低。纤维占检测到的微塑料颗粒的 43.54%，其次是碎片（32.20%）和薄膜（23.78%）。它们主要由聚氯乙烯、聚乙烯、聚丙烯和聚苯乙烯组成。透明和白色微塑料很常见，小尺寸（50-500μm）的微塑料约占所有微塑料的 66%。在拉萨、那曲和林芝附近发现了高值的微塑料。此外，微塑料污染与最近城市的距离（p<0.01）、风速（p=0.014）、海拔（p=0.181）呈负相关，而与降水量（p=0.024）呈正相关。这项工作提供了青藏高原土壤中微塑料污染程度的新见解，并为未来关于生态毒理学、生态系统影响以及微塑料对陆地生态系统的地球系统反馈的研究提供了有价值的数据。
