Effect of Sodium Hydrogen Bicarbonate Treatment on Microplastic Polluted Soil

The contamination of soil caused by the degradation of plastics introduced through disposal has been increasing globally and exposure to microplastic triggers a wide variety of toxic chemicals which affect disrupts reproductive performance, metabolism, and changes liver physiology. This study was carried out to examine the effect of Sodium hydrogen bicarbonate treatment on microplastic-polluted soil. The soil samples were collected from three sites in Wukari, Taraba State (Kwararafa University Wukari). 4 treatments were set up and consisted of the control, polluted and unpolluted soil treated with NaHCO3 grouped into three different samples. The microplastic level in the soils was determined using HPLC technique (model 5020A) and the obtained results showed that eight microplastics were present in all the soil samples. Polyamide, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene, ethylene glycol, terephthalic acid, acrylic acid and polyester in the soil samples ranged from 479.94 to 1241.78 μg/kg, 331.45 to 857.78 μg/kg, 222.83 to 576.54 μg/kg, 721.18 to 1865.96 μg/kg, 257.49 to 666.23 μg/kg, 124.675 to 322.56 μg/kg, 64.22 to 122.52 μg/kg and 171.41 to 327.02 μg/kg, respectively. Polyethylene was identified as the most abundant type of microplastic and acrylic acid was the least abundant microplastic in the soil samples across all groups. The highest total detectable microplastics were observed in the untreated unpolluted soil samples (5943.12 μg/kg) and the least was recorded in the NaHCO3 treated microplastic polluted soil samples (2373.20 μg/kg). From the findings, the study concluded that NaHCO3 treatment is effective in reducing microplastic contamination in soil samples and recommended that effective waste management strategies should be implemented to reduce the accumulation and degradation of plastic litter into microplastic.