Research Projects

Rationale: Recalcitrant nature of plastics along with its ability to fragment into nano and micro sized particles have become a growing concern about their impact of environmental compartments. Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the environment and considered as an emerging pollutant. 1)The available literature mainly describes the impacts of MPs on soil ecosystem, human health and physical and chemical properties of the soil. However, the field-based studies on the microplastics embedded in the soil system, especially in Indian context are not yet reported in the literature. 2) Fluorescence guided staining method for microplastic identification is a new, cheaper, rapid, and nearly accurate method. Majority of the literature related to NR staining method follows mostly performs laboratory trials. Therefore, the information related to NR based staining of field sample is rare. 3) The changes in microplastic characteristics and soil properties during long time exposure are not well discussed in the existing literature. 4) There are no study available on the biochar based immobilization of MP in the Indian context. Objectives: 1) Collection and screening of the MPs of soil from a municipal solid waste dumping site, near a Ramsar site in Guwahati. 2) Mapping of the microplastic distribution into the entire dumping site and nearby agricultural fields. 3) Fate of microplastic in the soil for long time exposure. 4) Immobilizing MPs through biochar prepared from locally available agro-wastes. Hypothesis/model to be tested: The isolation and identification of MPs in soil system are highly important to understand the dynamics of MPs in the soil matrix and the impacts of such MPs in the soil ecosystem. Spectroscopic methods provide accurate, simultaneous, and non-destructive analysis of chemical and physical properties of MPs. However, long computing time, requirement of qualified technicians, and labor intensive process are the major drawback of spectroscopy method. Therefore, new approaches for identification of MPs need to be developed which can provide rapid, cost effective and high throughput screening. Introduction of fluorescent tagged identification method utilizing staining dye become a strategy to enhance the visualization and identification of MPs and also distinguish them from organic matter and mineral present in the sample. In this study we propose to test Nile Red for microplastic detection due to its good affinity towards a wide range of MPs, massive adsorption on plastic, shorter incubation time and nontoxic behavior. Application/Societal usage: Development of Northeast India depends mainly on agriculture and livestock which is also a significant source of income. The proposed study will evaluate the presence of microplastics in the soil contaminated with municipal solid wastes. The low-cost identification and quantification method using fluorescent staining method will also be developed.