Biotechnology Remediation and Environmental Behavior of Microplastics in Soils: A Review

Environmental contamination by microplastics (MPs) has aroused a global concern. In particular, it is difficult to remove MPs that remain in the soil once covered by agricultural film. Because of food chain transfer and bioconcentration, MPs and associated pollutants pose hazards to the health of humans and the ecosystems. Biodegradation has gradually shown its advantages in the remediation of soil polluted by MPs. Here, we review the global research on MPs pollution in the soil during the last 20 years, especially the distributions of MPs in soils, the mechanisms of the migration and transformation of MPs, and biological treatment technologies of MPs in the soil. This review focuses on (i) analysis of research on soil MPs in the last 20 years, (ii) biodegradation of MPs by microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, fungus), (iii) enzymatic biodegradation of MPs, and (iv) factors affecting microbial and enzymatic degradation of MPs. Besides, future perspectives of research on soil MPs are proposed. We critically point out the existing issues to facilitate the judicious design of biotechnology and to understand the research trend, pollution load reduction, and risk prevention in the field. It is a critical review of the reliability and practicability of biotechnology for soil MPs remediation, which has been a bone of contention in the past years.