Microplastics can significantly affect dry soil aggregate stability and wind erosion

Microplastics affect key soil functions – water, carbon and nutrient storage – and soil microbiota via interactions between plastic degradability and soil aggregation

Microplastics affect key soil functions – water, carbon and nutrient storage – and soil microbiota via interactions between plastic degradability and soil aggregation

Soil Aggregates and Organic Carbon Transformation in Response to Microplastics Pollution

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Researchers synthesized 131 studies on microplastics in agricultural soils and found that microplastics destabilize soil aggregates, accelerate organic carbon mineralization, and stimulate microbial activity in ways that collectively degrade soil structure and increase carbon loss to the atmosphere.

Microplastics reduce soil detachment capacity by modulating soil physical properties: experimental evidence from concentration gradients

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Laboratory experiments showed that polyethylene microplastics at 0.5-2% soil concentrations significantly reduced saturated hydraulic conductivity and capillary porosity, decreasing soil detachment capacity by 8-15% under hydraulic stress. Degraded soil water dynamics from microplastic contamination have practical consequences for erosion control, agricultural water management, and the long-term productivity of farmland.

The impact of large microplastics on the physical behavior of soils: implications to marine sediments

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Researchers tested how PVC microplastic chips alter the physical properties of marine sediment analogues, finding that as little as 1% plastic content by volume irreversibly changed compressibility, strength, stiffness, and hydraulic conductivity — with coarser sediments showing greater sensitivity — raising concerns about long-term seafloor stability as plastic accumulation continues.