Ecotoxicological effects and detection features of polyvinyl chloride microplastics in soils: A review

Abstract

The soil microplastics pollution problem is becoming more and more urgent every year. PVC is a widely used material, consequently it is possible that PVC microplastics are a significant contributor to pollution, especially in industrial soils. At the same time, PVC usually contains many different chemical additives that have the ability to migrate to the surface during aging. This review is devoted to summarizing the results of studies on the prevalence, ecotoxicological effects, features of analytical process for the detection of PVC microplastics. There is evidence that PVC microplastics adversely affect the soil ecosystem by leaching harmful substances with aging, affecting some soil animals, plants, microbial communities, enzymatic activity and biogeochemical cycles. However, there is insufficient data on this issue and further research is needed. There are many different approaches to the analytics steps for soil containing PVC microplastics, and features of PVC and its aging, as well as the complexity of the soil matrix, must be taken into account when selecting protocol. It is necessary to strive for standardization of the protocol and comparable data.

Keywords

• PVC microplastics
• Ecotoxicological effects
• Analytical methods
• Soil
• Terrestrial system
• Impact