We are in a ‘plastic age’ where the recycling efficiency can't follow the growing
plastic production. People consume ~2000 microplastic particles every week, the
equivalent of a credit card. It thus presents an environmental, and a human health threat, and though the recycling efficiency constantly improves, plastic leakage to the environment is evident on all scales and in all ecosystems. However, plastic pollution in soils suffers from huge knowledge gaps. The goal is to merge state-of the-art spectroscopic techniques with MP transport and fate in soil, and effects of MPs on soil microorganisms in various soil ecosystems. Infrared (IR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, will be applied to characterize and estimate the levels of MP in soil from different ecosystems. Sorption and leaching experiments will be conducted to determine MP fate, whereas the effect of MP on soil microbial activity and soil microbial community composition will be tested by DNA sequencing.