ERC Starting Grant · 2024
Nano- and colloidal plastics in soil: input, plant uptake and risk assessment
Plastic pollution has been identified as a key to soil health. Yet, information on inputs and concentrations in agricultural soil is limited to microplastics (> 1 µm-5 mm) or larger particles, but nothing is known about submicron plastics, including colloidal plastics (CPs; 1-1000 nm) and nanoplastics (NPs; 1-100 nm), due to a lack of analytical methods. This is critical because mainly submicron plastics harm soil biota, are taken up by plants, and thus pose a risk to human health via the food chain. As plastic pollution is rising, we urgently need to quantify submicron plastics in agricultural soils and the resulting plant uptake and contamination of our food to safeguard our food…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.