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Combined effects of microplastics and organic pollutants on crops: a meta-analysis
Summary
Tiny plastic particles in soil don't just harm crops on their own, when combined with things like antibiotics or pesticides, they can shrink plant growth and cause crops to soak up nearly twice as much antibiotic residue in their edible parts. Since this study used lab experiments with higher-than-typical pollutant levels over short time periods, more real-world research is needed, but the findings raise a flag: microplastic pollution in farm soil could be making other chemical contaminants in our food worse, not just adding a separate problem.
Microplastics (MPs) and organic pollutants (OPs) are widespread environmental contaminants, yet their combined effects on agricultural systems remain poorly understood. This meta-analysis synthesizes 884 observations from 38 peer-reviewed studies to evaluate co-exposure impacts-specifically with antibiotics, pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) -on crop biomass and pollutant accumulation. A systematic search of Web of Science and CNKI (up to September 30, 2025) identified controlled experiments comparing OPs-only with combined MPs-OPs treatments (≥ 3 replicates; extractable data). Publication bias was assessed via funnel plots and Egger’s test. Using random-effects models, MPs combined with antibiotics or pesticides significantly reduced aboveground biomass, whereas MPs-PAHs effects were neutral. Notably, antibiotic accumulation in aboveground tissues increased by 94.53%. Model selection based on summed Akaike weights indicated that, among the moderators examined, crop species received the highest relative importance for aboveground biomass and pollutant uptake, while MP particle size and cultivation duration showed strong associations with belowground biomass and belowground accumulation, respectively. Limitations include the overrepresentation of antibiotic studies, the predominance of short-term controlled-exposure experiments, and the use of relatively high exposure concentrations, which together constrain extrapolation to long-term field conditions. These findings should therefore be interpreted as patterns emerging from the current body of experimental evidence rather than as universal ecological responses, highlighting the need for further studies under environmentally relevant conditions and extended field observations.