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Current Situation and Ecological Effects of Microplastic Pollution in Soil
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Researchers synthesized existing knowledge on microplastic contamination in soils, finding that particles accumulate widely, disrupt soil ecosystems, and can enter food crops — yet soil remains far less studied than water environments. Closing this research gap is urgent because soil health underpins food production and microplastics in agricultural land could reach human diets.
Microplastics have received more and more attention worldwide as an emerging persistent pollutant. Soil microplastic pollution can cause serious environmental problems and potentially endanger the soil ecosystems and human health. Currently, most available studies of microplastics have been performed in aquatic environments. However, soil environments have been less studied, and our understanding of microplastic pollution in soil is still lacking. Therefore, based on the existing knowledge, this review firstly focuses on the current situation of microplastic pollution in soil, basically including sources, distribution characteristics, degradation, and migration. Furthermore, analytical methods are briefly discussed, and ecological effects of microplastics in soil are summarized. Soil is a reservoir of microplastics. Microplastics have a wide distribution and high abundance in environmental media, and their distribution in soil exhibits spatial heterogeneity. Microplastics affect soil physicochemical properties, soil microorganisms, soil fauna, and plants through several mechanisms, leading to different ecological effects. Finally, future research directions of soil microplastic pollution are proposed to provide novel ideas for follow-up research.
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A comprehensive literature review found that soil microplastic research lags far behind aquatic studies despite annual MP discharge into farmland exceeding marine inputs, with synthetic textiles, tire wear, and urban dust as dominant sources entering soil via atmospheric deposition, sewage irrigation, and agricultural film use. The soil MP burden threatens food crop health, risks leaching into groundwater, and poses intergenerational health risks through nutrient disruption and potential plant-to-human transmission pathways.
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Researchers reviewed the emerging problem of microplastic pollution in soil, tracing contamination to agricultural practices, industrial activities, and atmospheric deposition, and examining downstream risks to ecosystem health and human well-being.
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