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Effects of polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics on plant growth and bacterial community in the soil
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Researchers compared the effects of regular polyethylene and biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics on soybean growth and soil bacteria. Surprisingly, the biodegradable microplastics caused more harm than conventional ones, significantly reducing root growth and altering soil bacterial communities important for nitrogen fixation. This finding challenges the assumption that biodegradable plastics are always safer for the environment and raises questions about their impact on food crops.
Microplastics (MPs), especially biodegradable MPs (BMPs) have attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, the effects of MPs with different biodegradability on the soil-plant systems are not well explored. In this study, the effects of polyethylene MPs (PEMPs) and polylactic acid MPs (PLAMPs) on physio-biochemical performance and metabolomic profile of soybean (Glycine max), as well as the bacterial communities in soil were investigated. Our results showed that PEMPs had no noticeable toxicity on the plant growth, while 0.1% PLAMPs significantly decreased the root length by 27.53% when compared with the control. The peroxidase (POD) activity was reduced and catalase (CAT) activity was increased by MPs in plant leaves. The metabolomics study suggested that the significantly affected metabolic pathway is amino acid metabolism. Additionally, Shannon and Simpson indices of rhizosphere soil were changed only under 0.1% PLAMPs. The key bacteria involved in the dinitrogen fixation were also altered. This study provides a novel insight into the potential effects of MPs with different biodegradability on soil-plant systems and highlights that BMPs might have stronger negative effects for terrestrial ecosystem, which needs to be further explored in future research.
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This study compared how conventional polyethylene microplastics and biodegradable alternatives (PBAT and PLA) affect soil bacteria and nutrient cycling in soybean fields. The biodegradable microplastics actually caused more harm to soybean growth than conventional ones, reducing shoot biomass by up to 34% and disrupting nitrogen availability in soil. This challenges the assumption that biodegradable plastics are always better for the environment and raises questions about their impact on agricultural productivity and food security.
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Scientists compared how conventional polyethylene and biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics affect soil microbial communities and carbon cycling. Researchers found that the two types of microplastics had markedly different effects, with biodegradable plastics causing more changes to microbial community structure and carbon-related gene activity. The study suggests that biodegradable plastics, while designed to be more environmentally friendly, may still significantly alter soil biology.
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Researchers compared how biodegradable polylactic acid and conventional PVC microplastics affect soil bacteria and nitrogen cycling processes. They found that both types of microplastics altered microbial communities, but biodegradable plastics had distinct effects on nitrogen-processing bacteria and did not simply behave as a harmless alternative. The study suggests that switching to biodegradable plastics may change rather than eliminate the impact of microplastic contamination on soil health.
Conventional low-density polyethylene microplastic induce stronger adverse effects on maize–soil–bacteria system than polylactic acid microplastic
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A comparison of conventional low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics from mulch film found that LDPE consistently inhibited maize growth while low concentrations of PLA actually promoted it. Both plastic types entered maize root tissues but followed different pathways, and LDPE caused greater harm to soil bacterial communities, suggesting that switching from conventional to biodegradable mulch is genuinely beneficial for agricultural soil health.
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