Determination of plastic pollution and its degradation in soil at mangoes cultivation area / Nurain Samsudin

Nowadays, plastic pollution has emerged a major environmental concern. The presence of plastic and microplastic in the soil can bring several harmful effects to the environment including disrupting the soil ecosystem and reducing soil fertility. Furthermore, it can easily be absorbed by soil creatures, enter the food chain and may harm human health. Since the presence of plastic particles in soil can give the negative impact on soil health for plant growth and the environment, Thus, the determination of plastic pollution and its degradation in the soil of agricultural land is crucial. This study aims to identify the functional group of plastic pollution that is present using Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(ATR-FTIR). The properties of plastic degradation products with their effects on soil quality also was collated. A total of 12 soil samples from agriculture areas were collected and evaluated throughout this research. The areas chosen to be research areas are the mango cultivation area in Lanchang, Pahang(3.497873, 102.191079). A few steps were carried out to determine the presence of plastic pollution and its degradation sorting of plastic size, sample drying, density separation where a solid solution of sodium chloride is used, alkaline digestion using sodium hydroxide and the cleaning process. Based on FTIR spectrum, there have broad absorption bands at 2914cm-1, 2847cm-1, 1470cm-1, and 718cm-1, which are used to identify and quantify the presence of polyethylene(PE). In summary, the soil in the research area is contaminated with plastic and its degradation. Effective strategies for managing and mitigating plastic pollution in the environment need to be carried out in the future to have good soil quality.