• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
Danske Bank Quits New Fossil Fuel Financing January 23, 2023
Extreme Warming Ahead Even as Worst-Case Scenarios Grow ‘Obsolete’ January 23, 2023
Notley Scorches Federal Just Transition Bill as Fossil CEO Calls for Oilsands Boom January 23, 2023
IRON OXIDE: New Battery Brings Long-Duration Storage to Grids, 750 Jobs to West Virginia January 23, 2023
BREAKING: GFANZ Banks, Investors Pour Hundreds of Billions into Fossil Fuels January 17, 2023
Next
Prev

Pesticides, Fertilizers Add Microplastics to Soil, Experts Warn

June 7, 2022
Reading time: 2 minutes

Oregon State University/wikimedia commons

Oregon State University/wikimedia commons

1
SHARES
 

The increasing, intentional use of microplastics in pesticides and fertilizers has driven up their concentrations in soil to between four and 23 times the levels in marine environment, a group of U.S. environmental law experts warns.

“Deliberately added microplastics are a new, dangerous facet of the toxic triad formed by agrochemicals, plastics, and the fossil fuels used to make them,” writes the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) in a release announcing its report on how microplastics affect our soil, food, and future.

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
New!
Subscribe

“In the European Economic Area (EEA) alone, 36,000 tonnes of microplastics are introduced into the environment through agrochemicals each year, accounting for more than 65% of microplastics intentionally added to the environment in that region,” CIEL writes.

“Industry production estimates suggest the problem is far wider than publicly reported,” the release adds.

Used mainly in slow- or controlled-release fertilizers (SRFs and CRFs), where a coating typically composed of a plastic polymer like polyacrylonitrile (a known toxin) helps to regulate nitrate conversion to ammonia, microplastics are also used in seed coatings and soil remediation—especially efforts to increase soil’s ability to hold water.

While they are marketed as environmentally friendly and sustainable, these substances compound the known harms of chemical-based fertilizers, as well as pesticides, by “enhancing toxicity and increasing mobility” through the food chain, the researchers say.

“With mounting evidence showing microplastics have the potential to not only cross biological barriers in the human body but also to adsorb and transport other toxic chemicals, their intentional use in agrochemicals introduces a new array of health and environmental harms,” writes CIEL.

As for arguments that polymer-wrapped agrochemicals are a boon to farmers, CIEL’s report found that “microplastic accumulation is occurring at a rate up to 50 kilograms per hectare (more than 40 pounds per acre) per year, affecting soil ecosystems, bacterial composition, and organisms—all prerequisites for plant health.”

Global demand for and production of SRFs, CRFs, and other such soil “supplements” is surging thanks to their “aggressive promotion” by Big Agriculture as climate-friendly and sustainable. Based on annual projected market growth of 6%, CIEL estimates the value of these additives will reach US$3.3 billion by 2026.

The group is urging governments everywhere to “close regulatory gaps and comprehensively ban the intentional use of microplastics” in agriculture and other industries. “We do not have to wait for more research,” said report co-author and senior CIEL attorney Giulia Carlini. “Decision-makers should use the precautionary principle to take urgent action and implement a wide range of measures that prevent future harm.”



in Food Security & Agriculture, Health & Safety, International Agencies & Studies, Legal & Regulatory, Oil & Gas, UK & Europe

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

United Nations
Air & Marine

Salvage of $20B ‘Floating Time Bomb’ Delayed by Rising Cost of Oil Tankers

January 27, 2023
4
RL0919/wikimedia commons
Finance & Investment

Danske Bank Quits New Fossil Fuel Financing

January 23, 2023
2.1k
@tongbingxue/Twitter
Ending Emissions

Extreme Warming Ahead Even as Worst-Case Scenarios Grow ‘Obsolete’

January 23, 2023
261

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

RL0919/wikimedia commons

Danske Bank Quits New Fossil Fuel Financing

January 23, 2023
2.1k
@tongbingxue/Twitter

Extreme Warming Ahead Even as Worst-Case Scenarios Grow ‘Obsolete’

January 23, 2023
261
Weirton, WV by Jon Dawson/flickr

IRON OXIDE: New Battery Brings Long-Duration Storage to Grids, 750 Jobs to West Virginia

January 23, 2023
492
Rachel Notley/Facebook

Notley Scorches Federal Just Transition Bill as Fossil CEO Calls for Oilsands Boom

January 23, 2023
247
James Vincent Wardhaugh/flickr

Canada Sidelines Ontario’s Ring of Fire, Approves Separate Mining Project

December 4, 2022
373
Argonne National Laboratory/flickr

$1.5B EV Battery Materials Plant Coming to Eastern Ontario

July 20, 2022
1.4k

Recent Posts

United Nations

Salvage of $20B ‘Floating Time Bomb’ Delayed by Rising Cost of Oil Tankers

January 27, 2023
4
EcoAnalytics

Albertans Want a Just Transition, Despite Premier’s Grumbling

January 23, 2023
185
Sergio Boscaino/flickr

Dubai Mulls Quitting C40 Cities Over ‘Costly’ Climate Target

January 24, 2023
84
hangela/pixabay

New UK Coal Mine Faces Two Legal Challenges

January 24, 2023
43

Gas Stoves Enter U.S. Climate Culture War, Become ‘Bellwether’ for Industry

January 22, 2023
72
Jeff Hitchcock/flickr.

BREAKING: GFANZ Banks, Investors Pour Hundreds of Billions into Fossil Fuels

January 23, 2023
493
Next Post
Michael and Diane Weidner/Unsplash

Scientists, Politicians Debate Ethics of ‘Climate Tinkering’

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}