09/12/2026
Microplastics are not only in water and air. They are entering agricultural soil: the living system that grows our food.
A new APPG on Microplastics report, produced with the University of Portsmouth’s Revolution Plastics Institute and the Women’s Institute, warns that contamination in UK soils threatens soil health and food security.
The pathway is especially concerning: wastewater treatment can capture up to 99% of microplastics from water: but transfers them into sludge. Between 87–94% of that sludge is then spread on farmland.
In soil, microplastics can alter structure and water capacity, disrupt bacteria and fungi crucial to soil health, and cause physiological changes in earthworms that ingest them. They can also attract chemicals, heavy metals, bacteria, and other contaminants.
The policy message is clear: contamination must be reduced at the source, with legally binding targets to cut microplastic pollution.
Source: APPG on Microplastics report / The Guardian, Sept 1, 2026.