Assessing microplastics contamination and characteristics in organic soil amendments in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area of Ghana

Urban Farm DB summary

In the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area of Ghana, which generates about 2,291 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily (roughly 14% plastic), researchers analysed two municipal solid-waste composts, two dried sewage sludges and a reference soil with five replicates each. Microplastic loads were highest in sludge 1 at 4,316 ± 968 particles/kg, followed by compost 1 at 3,572 ± 1,196, compost 2 at 3,104 ± 418 and sludge 2 at 2,024 ± 562, against 232 ± 62 in the reference soil. Polyethylene, polyester and polypropylene dominated. The results show that returning urban organic waste to soil also carries microplastics into soils and crops. Limitations: only five sampling sources, and FTIR polymer identification applied to a 10% subsample.