Combined pollution of microplastics and antibiotics in agricultural ecosystems: occurrence, mechanisms, and risks

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.

Effects of antibiotics on aquatic plant growth and removal of antibiotics by plants in water containing microplastics

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Researchers found that certain aquatic plants, especially Canna indica (a common ornamental plant), can help remove antibiotic pollution from water, even when microplastics are also present, though the plastics do make the cleanup somewhat less effective (10-20% weaker). This matters because antibiotics and microplastics are increasingly showing up together in rivers and lakes, and finding cost-effective, natural ways to filter them out could help protect drinking water sources and reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment.

Microplastics and Microbe Interaction on Human and Animal Health

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Researchers reviewing microplastic-microbe interactions found that microplastics alter microbial community composition in gut and environmental settings, potentially disrupting beneficial bacteria and facilitating pathogen spread, with implications for both human and animal health.

Antibiotic desorption from microplastics in brackish water and the effect on microbial communities

Wastewater as a Source of Microplastic Pollution: Fate and Risk on Biota

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This review examined wastewater as a primary pathway for microplastic entry into the environment, assessing the fate of particles through treatment systems and the ecological and health risks they pose to biota after discharge. Wastewater effluent and biosolid land application together represent two of the most direct routes by which MNPs reach agricultural soils and drinking water sources, making treatment plant performance central to human exposure reduction.