Microplastic contamination of soils poses an emerging threat to soil function and food security, yet data from rural,
smallholder-farming regions of north-central Nigeria remain scarce. This study assessed the abundance and aerial
distribution of microplastics in soils across three land-use types, farmland, residential areas, and roadsides, in seven rural
communities of Chikam, Kuba, Kunet, Mai Katako, Mbar, Ndar, and Tadin of Bokkos Local Government Area, Plateau
State, Nigeria. Composite topsoil samples (0–15 cm) were processed by density separation and peroxide digestion, and
microplastic particles were enumerated and expressed as particles per kilogram of dry soil. Microplastics were detected
in all twenty-one composite samples, with mean abundances of 16,690 ± 20,391, 24,039 ± 18,943, and 15,126 ± 14,647
particles kg⁻¹ in farmland, residential, and roadside soils, respectively, with the wide magnitude of the standard deviation
indicative of the heterogeneous distribution of microplastics among the land use types.. A one-way ANOVA indicated no
significant differences in abundance among land-use types (p = 0.626), whereas community identity was the dominant
source of variability, with the community of Ndar alone contributing 42.2% of the cumulative regional burden. A source
proximity gradient analysis showed a strong, statistically significant correlation between farmland and roadside abundance
(r = 0.988, p < .001) and a significant linear relationship between a composite proximal-source index (residential and
roadside soils) and distal farmland abundance (R² = 0.812, p = 0.006), suggesting substantial transport of microplastics
from settlement and road corridors into adjoining cultivated land. These results indicate that rural agricultural soils in
Plateau State are measurably and spatially linked to nearby anthropogenic plastic sources, which may have implications
for soil health.

Keywords: microplastics, agricultural soil, spatial distribution, source-proximity gradient