Combined Toxicity of Microplastics and Heavy Metals to Terrestrial Plants: A Global Meta-Analysis Integrating Machine Learning Predictions

Decoupling Soil Heavy Metal Availability from Plant Uptake under Microplastic Contamination: Evidence from Soil–Plant experiments and Density Functional Theory Modeling

Machine learning-enhanced meta-analysis unravels the global patterns of microplastic-heavy metal co-toxicity in terrestrial ecosystems

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This meta-analysis of 1,820 datasets found that combined microplastic and heavy metal exposure significantly inhibits plant growth (22% height decrease), reduces microbial diversity, and increases animal intestinal damage and mortality. Nanoscale microplastics amplified heavy metal toxicity the most, suggesting that smaller plastic particles in soil pose the greatest combined pollution risk to ecosystems and food safety.

Microplastic risk assessment and toxicity in plants: a review

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Researchers review how microplastics harm plants across multiple mechanisms — inhibiting growth, inducing oxidative stress, blocking nutrient and metal absorption, and disrupting plant-microbe interactions — with consequences for metabolic pathways, gene expression, and crop yields.

Revealing the key factors of synergistic transport of microplastics and heavy metals in groundwater: Batch experiments, density functional theory calculations, molecular dynamics simulations, and machine learning modeling

Microplastics in Plant Species: Impacts and Ecological Perspectives

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This analysis examined how microplastics affect plant physiology in terrestrial ecosystems, including uptake through roots, translocation into edible tissues, disruption of photosynthesis, and alteration of soil microbial communities that plants depend on. Because many staple crops can absorb and accumulate microplastics from contaminated soil and irrigation water, agricultural microplastic pollution translates directly into human dietary exposure through fruits, vegetables, and grains.