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Microbiomes Against Microplastic Pollution in Agriculture: Biodegradation, Remediation, and Soil Health Implications
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Researchers reviewed how soil microbiomes interact with microplastics in agricultural settings, finding that microbial communities offer biodegradation and remediation potential, though intensive plastic use in farming combined with fertilizer and wastewater inputs continuously introduces microplastics into soils with implications for soil health.
Microplastics (MPs) are now recognized as a pervasive and escalating threat to agricultural ecosystems. Intensive use of plastics in farming, combined with inputs such as organic fertilizers, sewage sludge, and wastewater, continuously introduces MPs into soils. Once...
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Microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils – Impacts on crop microbiomes and soil health
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Researchers review how microplastics from mulch films, sewage sludge, and wastewater accumulate in agricultural soils, disrupting microbial communities, reducing enzyme activity essential for nutrient cycling, and accumulating in crop tissues, raising food safety concerns and highlighting the need for biodegradable alternatives and better wastewater treatment.
Biotechnology Remediation and Environmental Behavior of Microplastics in Soils: A Review
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This 20-year review synthesizes global research on microplastic pollution in agricultural soils, covering distribution patterns, migration mechanisms, and the potential of microbial and enzymatic biodegradation as remediation strategies. Given that soil microplastics can enter food chains and threaten human health, advancing biotechnology-based removal methods is essential for protecting both ecosystems and the food supply.
Impact of Microplastic Pollution on Soil Health
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Researchers review how microplastics enter agricultural soils from plastic mulch films, sewage sludge, and irrigation water, documenting their effects on soil microbial communities, nutrient cycling, and overall soil health in ways that may threaten long-term agricultural productivity.
Microplastics in agricultural soils: Impacts on soil microbial communities, nutrient cycling, earthworm health, and soil ecosystem functions
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This review pulls together existing research showing that tiny plastic bits building up in farm soil, from sources like plastic mulch and sewage sludge, are harming the soil itself, disrupting the microbes and earthworms that keep it healthy and fertile. This matters because damaged soil means reduced crop growth and food security over time, and these same microplastics can carry harmful chemicals and heavy metals that may end up in our food, water, and air. The researchers stress that without action to reduce plastic pollution now, the damage to farmland could become permanent.
Microplastic Pollution: Harmful Effects and Possible Bioremediation Strategies
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This review examines the harmful effects of microplastic pollution on terrestrial and marine ecosystems and surveys potential bioremediation strategies — including microbial, phytoremediation, and combined approaches — for mitigating contamination. Given that microplastics persist indefinitely in the environment and accumulate in food webs, identifying effective bioremediation pathways is essential for reducing the chronic dietary and environmental exposure burden on human and animal populations.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.