The spatio-temporal variability of soil microplastic distribution and erosion-induced microplastic export under...

Intensive agricultural production and land management often lead to soil microplastics (MPs) accumulation and aggravated erosion consequently polluting water bodies. However, little is known about the occurrence and migration of soil MPs induced by soil erosion at the catchment scale. This study firstly reported the spatio-temporal variability in soil MPs distribution, and erosion-induced microplastic export loads under extreme rainfall events in an intensive agricultural catchment. The results indicated that microplastic abundance peaked in November 2022 and varied by land use types, among which cropland converted from forest (C(F)) and crop farmland (C) had the highest abundance, vegetable farmland (V) had the lowest abundance on average. Most MPs were < 500 μm and the primary polymers were polyamide (PA), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE). Sediment contribution and microplastic export loads were identified using compound specific stable isotope and Berillium-7 under an extreme rainfall event. F and C(F) were merged because their δ¹³C values were non-distinguishable and were identified as the primary sediment source (50.14 ± 0.27 %), contributing most to microplastic export loads due to land management policy shifting. Changed land uses should be the main focus for catchment erosion control and microplastic pollution prevention in intensive agriculture in China and elsewhere.