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Amendment alleviates the adverse effects of microplastics on soil nematode communities across different peanut growth stages
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Microplastics in agricultural soils: Impacts on soil microbial communities, nutrient cycling, earthworm health, and soil ecosystem functions
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This review pulls together existing research showing that tiny plastic bits building up in farm soil, from sources like plastic mulch and sewage sludge, are harming the soil itself, disrupting the microbes and earthworms that keep it healthy and fertile. This matters because damaged soil means reduced crop growth and food security over time, and these same microplastics can carry harmful chemicals and heavy metals that may end up in our food, water, and air. The researchers stress that without action to reduce plastic pollution now, the damage to farmland could become permanent.
Comparative study of the effects of pristine and aged PBAT microplastics on soil microbial community composition and nitrogen transformation
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Pristine and UV-aged PBAT biodegradable microplastics both altered soil nitrogen cycling, boosting microbial biomass and nitrogen-fixing bacteria while significantly suppressing nitrification rates by up to 68%, with UV aging moderating some of these effects. The finding that biodegradable plastics still disrupt key soil nutrient pathways challenges the assumption that they are environmentally benign alternatives to conventional plastics.
Microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils – Impacts on crop microbiomes and soil health
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Researchers review how microplastics from mulch films, sewage sludge, and wastewater accumulate in agricultural soils, disrupting microbial communities, reducing enzyme activity essential for nutrient cycling, and accumulating in crop tissues, raising food safety concerns and highlighting the need for biodegradable alternatives and better wastewater treatment.
The Effect of N Mineralization, Nitrification and Ammonification Rates in Soils Contaminated with Microplastics
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Researchers found that polypropylene, polyethylene, and PET microplastics all disrupt soil nitrogen cycling, with polypropylene having the most harmful effect — reducing the availability of nitrogen that plants need to grow, raising concerns about long-term agricultural soil health in contaminated areas.
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