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The Tiny Threat Beneath Our Feet: Microplastics in Soil
Summary
Researchers reviewing soil contamination document how microplastics entering via sewage sludge, agricultural mulch, and wastewater alter soil physicochemical properties, disrupt microbial communities and enzyme activity, impair plant growth, and reduce fertilizer use efficiency — positioning soil as both a sink and an active ecosystem under threat.
The widespread production, continuous use, and unscientific disposal of plastic have led to significant impact on living ecosystem. Over time of degradation, larger plastic polymers degrade into smaller fragments known as microplastics (less than 5 mm). Soil serves as a natural reservoir for microplastics originating from various sources viz; sewage sludge, landfills, plastic mulch in agriculture, fertilizers, and municipal wastewater discharge environment. The accumulation of microplastics in soil impacts its physicochemical properties, disrupts the development and reproduction of fauna, affects plant growth, and alters microbial communities as well as enzyme activities also endanger to soil organisms and plant health. Some soil organisms may eventually die from ingesting microplastics. Microplastic leads to reduction in fertilizer use efficiency.