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Time matters: Why ecological effects of microplastics might change over time
Summary
This review examines how the ecological effects of microplastics on soil and plant systems can change over time, highlighting that photodegradation of microplastics alters their chemical and physical properties and thereby modifies their environmental impacts. The authors argue that temporal factors are a critical but underappreciated variable in assessing microplastic ecotoxicology.
Abstract Research Highlight : Lozano, Y. M., Gordillo, H., Waldmann, W., & Rillig, M. C. (2023). Photodegradation modifies microplastic effects on soil properties and plant performance. Journal of Applied Ecology , https://doi.org/10.1111/1365‐2664.14514 . Plastics are omnipresent in daily life and so is plastic waste in the environment. Once there, plastic waste remains for a long time, slowly disintegrating into ever smaller particles including microplastics (particles <5 mm). Simultaneously, physical and chemical properties of these particles are modified due to aging processes. Although scientific awareness about microplastic effects on terrestrial ecosystems is recently increasing, current studies focused on the effects of pristine microplastics. However, modified properties due to aging could influence microplastic effects on terrestrial ecosystems and their components. In their current study, Lozano et al. provide first evidence that photodegradation can modify the effects of different microplastics on soil properties and plant performance, indicating that degradation could intensify microplastic effects on plant–soil systems. These results emphasise the need to better investigate how the global issue of plastic pollution affects ecosystems, also over the long term, and the need to stop the flow of plastics entering the environment.