Microplastics act as biogeochemical amplifiers of nitrogen cycling in coastal groundwater: Differential effects under palaeo-saltwater and modern seawater intrusion regimes

Microplastics and Aquatic Limnology: Conception of Biogeochemical Processes

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This study explored how microplastics discharged into freshwater bodies alter natural biogeochemical cycles, including carbon and nutrient cycling, in ways that disrupt aquatic ecosystem function. These chemical disruptions can cascade through aquatic food webs, ultimately affecting the health of organisms—including humans—that depend on freshwater ecosystems.

Effects of plastispheres and pristine microplastics on sediment microbial communities and nitrogen cycling under global warming

Effects of microplastics on carbon and nitrogen cycling in coastal wetlands: A critical meta-analysis

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This meta-analysis of over 1,000 data points from 34 studies found that microplastics significantly altered certain carbon and nitrogen cycling indicators in coastal wetlands under laboratory conditions, but tidal simulation experiments more representative of real environments showed no significant effects. The findings caution against over-interpreting lab results and highlight that tidal dynamics and vegetation factors are often missing from experimental designs.

Microplastic Pollution in Marine Environment: Occurrence, Fate, and Effects (With a Specific Focus on Biogeochemical Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles)

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Marine sediments have emerged as major sinks for microplastic particles, where they disrupt biogeochemical carbon and nitrogen cycling in ways that could alter the ocean's capacity to regulate climate. The interference with nutrient cycles adds a systemic ecological dimension to microplastic pollution beyond the direct toxicity effects on individual organisms.

The Plastiverse Extends to Hydrogeologic Systems: Microplastics Are an Important Emerging Groundwater Contaminant Class

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Scientists are finding tiny plastic particles, called microplastics, in groundwater, the water stored underground that many communities rely on for drinking water. This matters because groundwater has long been considered relatively protected from surface pollution, so this research suggests we need to start paying closer attention to how these plastics get into our water supplies and what that could mean for our health down the road. More research is still needed to fully understand the risks, but this is an important first step in recognizing groundwater as another place where microplastic contamination shows up.