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Microplastics in Soil Ecosystem: Insight on Its Fate and Impacts on Soil Quality
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Researchers examined how plastic film used widely in Chinese agriculture breaks down and accumulates in soil, finding that microplastic debris may degrade soil quality and crop health over time, with potential ripple effects for food safety and agricultural sustainability.
Plastic film has been intensively used in (semi-)arid agricultural regions, attributing to its great benefits of improving soil productivity and crop yield in China. However, plastic debris, as a consequence of film mulching, remains and accumulates in soil leading...
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Microplastic in Soil Ecosystem: Transition and Ecological Impacts
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This review examined how microplastics transition through soil ecosystems, alter soil structure, affect microbial communities, and impact plant health and agricultural productivity. Soil microplastic contamination is a growing threat to food security because it degrades the biological systems that underpin crop growth while simultaneously introducing chemical additives into the root zone where they can be taken up by edible plants.
Microplastics in soil: a review on research status, sources, methods, and remediation strategies
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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.
Microplastics, Their Toxic Effects on Living Organisms in Soil Biota and Their Fate: An Appraisal
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Microplastics exert toxic effects on soil biota including earthworms, nematodes, and microorganisms, disrupting nutrient cycling and undermining ecosystem services that agriculture depends on. Their persistence in soils and accumulation through food chains represent a growing threat to terrestrial biodiversity and food system safety.
Microplastics as Emerging Contaminants: Unraveling Their Impact on Soil Health
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This review pulls together existing research showing how tiny plastic bits in soil mess with its structure, chemistry, and the microbes that keep it healthy, making it harder for plants to grow and absorb nutrients properly. This matters because these plastics can travel from soil into the crops we eat, and the damage to soil health could shrink crop yields over time, raising concerns about both food safety and food supply.
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.
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