Determination of plastic pollution and its degradation in soil at banana plantation area / Siti Nur Amanina Mat

Plastic is a synthetic material considered to be hazardous to the environment of the ground surface. If plastic does not decompose sufficiently on the land surface, it can contribute to plastic pollution issues and endanger soil quality. Therefore, a research study was conducted in a banana plantation area in Machang, Kelantan (5°45'37.2"N 102°14'25.0"E) to assess the presence of plastic in soil as a result of cultivation activities and to evaluate the impact of polyethylene plastic on soil quality. For conduct this research, soil samples from the area were collected and analysed using Attenuated Total Reflectance – Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) to identify microplastics in soil. The findings of the study illustrated that only a small size of plastic was successfully identified toward the end of the procedure, whereas during cleaning phase prior to the ATR-FTIR analysis. Seeing as the obvious FTIR peaks corresponded to the wavelength’s numbers of polyethylene plastic, the FTIR analysis indicate that the plastic obtained was polyethylene plastic. Therefore, it is undeniable that the soil used for this agriculture activities has already been subjected to plastic pollution, resulting in decreased in its composition and quality of the soil in this area. Once analysing the findings of this study, the results will be discussed.