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Recent trends and open questions regarding the effects of microplastics on soil, plants and soil microorganisms
Summary
This review surveys recent trends in research on how microplastics affect soil health, plant growth, and soil microorganisms, identifying areas of scientific consensus and key open questions. The authors highlight that microplastics are emerging as a genuine threat to agroecosystem function, though many mechanistic questions about dose-response relationships and long-term soil effects remain unresolved.
In recent years, microplastics have been extensively detected in sea, freshwater, soils and organisms. The microplastics pollution is of increasing concerns for soil health. Microplastics are considered as an emerging threat to the agroecosystems, where soils may represent a reservoir for plastics pollution. Microplastics in soils could alter soil properties, plant growth, soil invertebrate, abundance and activity of soil microorganisms. Further investigations are needed to evaluate the overall effect of microplastics on soil ecosystems services.