Do agricultural microplastics undermine food security and sustainable development in developing countries?

农业微塑料是否会损害发展中国家的粮食安全和可持续发展？

基本信息

批准号：
NE/V005871/1
负责人：
Davey Jones
金额：
$ 329.63万
依托单位：
Bangor University
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2021
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2021 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FV005871%2F1
关键词：
Do agricultural microplastics undermine food

项目摘要

THE GLOBAL PROBLEM: The presence of large amounts of plastic in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems appears almost ubiquitous, with frequent reports of negative impacts of plastics on ecosystem health. This has led to the United Nations Environment Programme declaring plastic pollution as one of the top 10 global environmental problems. The problem of plastic pollution is particularly acute in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) where it is impairing the health and wellbeing of billions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people. In addition, it is compromising our ability to deliver many of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). While much research effort has been spent understanding the behaviour of microplastics in marine systems, the impact of plastics in terrestrial environments, and especially agricultural systems, remains poorly understood. This is surprising considering that 80% of plastics arriving in the oceans were produced, used, and often disposed of on land. It has also led to speculation that it is within terrestrial systems that microplastics might actually be of greatest concern.THE PLASTIC PARADOX IN LMICs: Over the last 50 years, many governments and overseas aid agencies have actively encouraged the use of plastics within agriculture to promote greater resource use efficiency and food security. The adoption of plastic mulch films in particular, has transformed the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers across the world, however, this has been achieved at a large environmental cost. Difficulties in removing plastic from fields, a lack of appreciation for its impact on agroecosystem health, and socioeconomic/practical barriers to its effective disposal have left a plastic pollution legacy that will last for many generations to come. There is therefore an urgent need to critically evaluate the environmental and human health risks posed by these legacy plastics and to devise effective ways and social structures to prevent further accumulation and to try and remediate plastic contaminated fields.TACKLING THE ISSUE: To address the problem and help deliver tangible solutions, we have brought together a multidisciplinary team of natural and social scientists from 5 contrasting LMICs (China, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam). We chose these 5 countries as this is where the problem of agricultural plastic pollution is most acute and because they are at different stages of tackling the problem. Together, these countries use 3 million tonnes of agricultural plastic film each year covering 25 million hectares of agricultural land. They also span a wide range of climates and possess a range of governance structures which will enable our outcomes to be readily translated to other similar LMICs. Consequently, the overall aim of our research is to quantify the risk that conventional macro-, micro- and nano-plastics pose to the long-term health of agricultural ecosystems. This information will be used to critically evaluate the likely impact of conventional agricultural plastic use on food security and rural livelihoods. In addition, we aim to identify practical, economic, socially acceptable and politically viable solutions to help remediate land contaminated with plastic and prevent further pollution from occurring through lasting behaviour and policy change. PROJECT LEGACY: Our fundamental approach will be to co-design context-specific, locally-owned interventions to reduce the plastic legacy, while still maintaining sustainable farming practices and livelihoods. It is vital that we generate legacy to ensure that the tools, technology, knowledge and partnerships we develop persist well beyond the project end-date and that the outcomes continue to spread to other LMICs. We have embedded legacy into the fabric of our project. For example we will upskill LMIC researchers, build research capital, create an information portal and design novel decision support tools.

全球问题：在陆地，淡水和海洋生态系统中存在大量塑料，几乎无处不在，经常报道塑料对生态系统健康的负面影响。这导致联合国环境计划宣布塑料污染是全球十大环境问题之一。在低收入和中等收入国家（LMIC）中，塑料污染的问题尤其严重，在这种国家损害了世界上数十亿最贫穷，最脆弱的人的健康和福祉。此外，这损害了我们实现联合国许多可持续发展目标（SDG）的能力。尽管已经花费了许多研究工作，但了解了微塑料在海洋系统中的行为，但塑料在陆地环境中，尤其是农业系统的影响仍然知之甚少。考虑到80％到达海洋中的塑料是生产，使用并经常在陆地上处置的，这令人惊讶。这也导致人们猜测，在陆地系统内，微塑料实际上可能是最引人注目的。LMICS的塑料悖论：在过去的50年中，许多政府和海外援助机构积极鼓励在农业中使用塑料，以促进更大的资源利用效率和粮食安全。尤其是塑料覆盖膜的采用，改变了世界各地数百万农民农民的生计，但是，这已经以巨大的环境成本实现。从田野中去除塑料的困难，对其对农业生态系统健康的影响以及社会经济/实践障碍的影响不足，其有效处理的遗产使塑料污染的遗产将持续下来。因此，迫切需要严格评估这些遗产塑料带来的环境和人类健康风险，并设计有效的方式和社会结构，以防止进一步积累，并尝试修复塑料污染的领域。解决问题：解决这个问题并帮助解决有形的解决方案，我们已经将自然和社会科学的多学科团队汇集在一起，是由5个自然和社会科学家组成的。越南）。我们选择了这5个国家，因为这是农业塑料污染问题最严重的问题，因为它们处于解决问题的不同阶段。这些国家每年共同使用300万吨农业塑料薄膜，覆盖2500万公顷的农业用地。它们还跨越了广泛的气候，并具有一系列治理结构，这将使我们的结果很容易转化为其他类似的LMIC。因此，我们研究的总体目的是量化常规宏观，微塑料和纳米层状对农业生态系统的长期健康的风险。该信息将用于批判性地评估常规农业塑料使用对粮食安全和农村生计的可能影响。此外，我们旨在确定实用，经济，社会上可接受且在政治上可行的解决方案，以帮助补救被塑料污染的土地，并防止通过持久的行为和政策变化发生进一步的污染。项目遗产：我们的基本方法是共同设计特定于环境的本地干预措施，以减少塑料遗产，同时仍保持可持续的农业实践和生计。至关重要的是，我们产生遗产是确保我们发展的工具，技术，知识和合作伙伴关系远远超出了项目末期，并且结果继续传播到其他LMIC。我们将遗产嵌入了项目的结构中。例如，我们将提高LMIC研究人员，建立研究资本，创建信息门户网站并设计新颖的决策支持工具。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（10）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Does long-term use of biodegradable plastic mulch affect soil carbon stock?

DOI：
10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105895
发表时间：
2021-09-08
期刊：
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
影响因子：
13.2
作者：
Ding, Fan;Flury, Markus;Wang, Jingkuan
通讯作者：
Wang, Jingkuan

Field response of N2O emissions, microbial communities, soil biochemical processes and winter barley growth to the addition of conventional and biodegradable microplastics

DOI：
10.1016/j.agee.2022.108023
发表时间：
2022
期刊：
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
影响因子：
0
作者：
Lucy M. Greenfield;Martine Graf;Saravanan Rengaraj;R. Bargiela;Gwion B. Williams;P. Golyshin;D. Chadwick;Davey L. Jones
通讯作者：
Lucy M. Greenfield;Martine Graf;Saravanan Rengaraj;R. Bargiela;Gwion B. Williams;P. Golyshin;D. Chadwick;Davey L. Jones

Field application of pure polyethylene microplastic has no significant short-term effect on soil biological quality and function