Natural Resources for Human Health Original Research View Article Online Received 12 January 2024 Revised 31 January 2024 Accepted 12 February 2024 Available online 28 February 2024 Edited by Barbara Sawicka KEYWORDS: Microplastics Ecological risk Hazard index Pollution Load Agricultural soils Natr Resour Human Health 2024; 4 (2): 152-159 https://doi.org/10.53365/nrfhh/184013 eISSN: 2583-1194 Copyright © 2024 Visagaa Publishing House Ecological risk assessment of microplastics in agricultural soils of Coimbatore region, India Karthika Sangilidurai 1 , Sivasubramanian Karuppusamy 1, * , Dhevagi Periyasamy 1 , Rajkishore Subramani Krishnaraj 1 , Chitra Narayanasamy 2 , Lakshmanan Arunachalam 3 , Dinesh Govindaraj Kamalam 4, 5 1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu – 641003, India 2 Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu – 641003, India 3 Centre for Agricultural Nano Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu – 641003, India 4 SRM College of Agricultural Sciences, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu – 603201, India 5 Division of Environment Science, ICAR - Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi – 110012, India ABSTRACT: Although plastics provide numerous conveniences for human life, concerns about ecosystems and human life are rising tremendously due to increased plastic production and consumption. e ubiquitous presence and undeniable distribution of microplastics (MPs) in agricultural usage created a major risk concern for soil ecology and human health. e ecological risk assessment of microplastics in agricultural sites in the Coimbatore region of South India has been evaluated using three ecological risk indices: Pollution Hazard Index (PHI), Pollution Load Index (PLI), and Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI). Based on the concentration of hazardous MPs (Polyethylene, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile, polyacrylamide, polyacrylamide, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride) in sampling sites, risk assessment indicated the major risk level in inorganic fertilizers applied site. Meanwhile, PLI indicated that all the sites were in category I with low pollution load in the region. However, the hazard scores of polymers increased the PERI values and exhibited their values in the extremely dangerous category. Since the models for evaluating MPs risk in agricultural sites are not yet developed, this calculation is cautiously calculated and further research could gradually add base reference data for understanding the distribution, ecological risk, and trophic transfer of MPs. 1. INTRODUCTION Plastics are low-cost, lightweight, robust, long-lasting, and corrosion-resistant materials. In the past 75 years, plastic has increasingly replaced natural materials in various fields and has become an essential part of everyday life (Elahi et al., 2021). Plastic waste can break into smaller fragments through various mechanisms such as wave action, hydrolysis, and photodegradation when entering the atmosphere, which can be classified as macroplastics (>5 mm), microplastics, (0.1 μm to 5 mm) and nanoplastics (< 0.1 μm) (Gilani et al., 2023; Rochman & Hoellein, 2020; Veerasingam et al., 2021). Agricultural lands receive 14% of all plastics discharged into the environment. MP contamination of agroecosystems tends to originate from agricultural practices such as using plastic mulches, spreading sewage sludge, and irrigation of land contributing to its MPs accumulation in soils (Nizzetto et al., 2016; J. Peng et al., 2017; Steinmetz et al., 2016). While some MPs are constantly replenished in the food chain, a sizable portion of plastic particles contribute to forming many MPs in the soil through physical, chemical, and biological processes (Doan et al., 2023). e wide distribution of MPs in agricultural soils is through various factors such as application of fertilizers, sources of irri- gation, agronomic practices like plastic mulching, greenhouse films and plastic storages, and atmospheric deposition (Bläsing * Corresponding author. E-mail address: ks75@tnau.ac.in (Sivasubramanian Karuppusamy) is is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).