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Ecological Effects of Soil Microplastic Pollution
Summary
This review summarizes how microplastics contaminate soils, what effects they have on soil animals and microbes, and how they disrupt carbon and nitrogen cycling. As soils are the base of terrestrial food webs, microplastic-induced changes in soil ecosystems have cascading effects on food safety and human health.
As a new type of environmental pollutant, microplastics pose a serious threat to soil ecosystems. We reviewed the classification and source of soil microplastics, separation, detection methods and existing problems. The pollution of soil microplastics and the adsorption effect and mechanism of microplastics on pollutants are summarized. The effects on soil animals, microbial ecology and carbon, nitrogen and other material cycles were analyzed. Furthermore, the ecological effects of microplastics are proposed, which provides new ideas for the study of soil microplastics in the future.
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