Aging properties of polyethylene microplastics in soil and the adsorption behaviors towards coexisting antibiotic

Interaction of Antibiotics with Microplastics in Agricultural Soils

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This study investigates how co-occurring antibiotics and microplastics interact in agricultural soils, finding that plastic particles can adsorb antibiotics and alter their mobility, persistence, and bioavailability to soil organisms. The antibiotic-microplastic interaction in farmland soils raises concerns about accelerated antibiotic resistance development and the contamination of crops grown in affected fields.

Evaluation of the Role of Plastic Aging on the Sorption of Pesticides and Pharmaceutical Substances on Microplastics

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Researchers evaluated how plastic aging affects the sorption of pesticides and pharmaceutical compounds onto microplastics, finding that weathering processes alter the polymer surface in ways that change the particle's capacity to absorb and concentrate chemical contaminants, with implications for pollutant transport and ecotoxicological risk.

Simultaneous adsorption of Pb2+ and tetracycline onto pristine and aged polypropylene microplastics

Interactions of Microplastics with Co-Occurring Pollutants in Soil Environment

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This review examines how microplastics in soils interact with co-occurring pollutants including heavy metals, organic contaminants, and biological pollutants, analyzing the mechanisms and environmental factors governing these complex interactions. Because microplastics act as vectors that adsorb and transport other contaminants through soil, understanding these interactions is critical for assessing the combined toxicity and ecological risk of plastic pollution in terrestrial food-producing systems.

Effects of Conventional and Biodegradable Microplastics on Soil Physicochemical Properties and Microorganisms

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A four-month soil incubation experiment compared conventional polyethylene (PE) and biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics, finding both alter soil organic carbon, nitrogen availability, enzyme activity, and microbial community composition — with PLA causing distinct effects due to its degradability. The finding that biodegradable plastics still significantly disrupt soil microbiology challenges assumptions about their environmental safety and suggests replacing conventional plastics with PLA does not eliminate ecological harm.