SYDNEY, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Scientists in Australia have developed a new "gold standard" for soil analysis and microplastic extraction in order to safeguard agricultural soils and protect human health.
The team, led by Australia's University of New England (UNE), developed a new multi-criteria framework to identify the most effective method to extract six common plastic types from different soil textures, said a UNE statement released Wednesday.
The method identified integrates factors such as recovery, spectral integrity, extraction time, cost, and environmental impact, the statement said.
The optimized extraction approach uses a sequence of organic matter digestion followed by density separation, achieving a recovery of more than 92 percent, it said.
The process is fast and low-cost, and utilizes reagents with a low environmental impact, making it accessible for widespread use, including in low-income regions, said UNE PhD candidate Nivetha Sivarajah, who led the study published in the June edition of the Soil Advances journal.
Researchers said the lack of standardized methods has limited understanding of the scale of microplastic pollution in soils, which are extensively contaminated by agricultural plastics, sewage sludge, and degraded waste.
"This has a significant environmental impact and can transfer through the food chain and threaten human health," Sivarajah said, adding that once adopted, the method could better reveal the true extent of microplastic pollution in agricultural soils. ■
