New Study Links Graffiti to Soil Pollution
- EN - DE
Research team from Freie Universität Berlin demonstrates that spray paints are responsible for high levels of microplastic pollution in soil. Public awareness is growing around the subject of microplastics as harmful pollutants. To date, this problematic source of pollution has primarily been investigated in bodies of water. However, recent studies are beginning to focus more on the presence and various sources of microplastics in soil. Led by biology professor Matthias C. Rillig, a research team from Freie Universität Berlin has now demonstrated that spray paints used for graffiti cause an extensive amount of microplastic pollution in the surrounding soil - the first study of its kind to do so, with previous work on paints having focused on aquatic environments. Analyzing soil samples taken from near the famous graffiti walls in Berlin's Mauerpark, scientists recorded hundreds of thousands of microplastic particles per kilogram of dry soil. This is the highest concentration of microplastics that has ever been reported in scientific literature.
