Prediction of future microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils.

This study shows the general exponential rise in microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils, with fertilizer application speeding up this increase, and future predictions of microplastic concentrations. Utilizing data from the Broadbalk winter wheat experiment at Rothamsted Research, UK, from 1846 to 2022, Poisson regression models were applied to microplastic counts under different soil treatments, including farmyard manure, inorganic fertilizers, and control conditions. A mass conversion factor was applied to obtain the w/w relationship.