Papers

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Article Tier 2

Responses of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) growth and soil properties to conventional non-biodegradable and new biodegradable microplastics

Scientists compared the effects of biodegradable and conventional polyethylene microplastics on lettuce growth and soil health. Both types of microplastics reduced plant growth, damaged photosynthesis, and altered soil nutrient levels, but biodegradable PBAT microplastics actually caused more disruption to soil microbial communities. The findings challenge the assumption that biodegradable plastics are necessarily safer for agricultural ecosystems.

2023 Environmental Pollution 60 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Biodegradable Microplastics on Soil andLettuce Health: Rhizosphere Microbiome and Metabolome Responses

Two biodegradable microplastics (PBAT and PHB) were applied to soil and lettuce was grown to assess effects on rhizosphere microbiome composition and plant metabolome, finding that both biodegradable MPs altered soil microbial communities and plant metabolic responses differently.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Bio-effects of bio-based and fossil-based microplastics: Case study with lettuce-soil system

Researchers compared the effects of bio-based (PEF) and fossil-based (PET) microplastics on lettuce growth and soil microbial communities over 21 days at multiple concentrations. They found that both types inhibited lettuce growth by reducing chlorophyll content and root development, and both altered soil bacterial community composition. The study suggests that bio-based plastics are not necessarily safer for soil ecosystems than conventional plastics when they fragment into microplastics.

2022 Environmental Pollution 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Studies on the impact of aged microplastics on agricultural soil enzyme activity, lettuce growth, and oxidative stress

This study examined how aged microplastics from three common plastics (polystyrene, polyethylene, and polylactic acid) affect soil health and lettuce growth. Researchers found that high concentrations of biodegradable PLA plastic actually reduced lettuce weight by over 58%, while all three plastic types triggered oxidative stress in the plants. The results show that even so-called eco-friendly biodegradable plastics can harm crops and soil when they accumulate at higher levels.

2025 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Dosages of Biodegradable Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) Microplastics Affect Soil Microbial Community, Function, and Metabolome in Plant–Soil System

Researchers examined how different concentrations of biodegradable PBAT microplastics affect soil microbial communities and lettuce growth. They found that while low concentrations had minimal impact, higher doses significantly altered soil microbial diversity, metabolic functions, and the chemical profile of the soil. The findings suggest that even biodegradable plastic mulch residues can disrupt soil ecosystems when they accumulate at higher levels.

2025 Agronomy 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene microplastics on the soil-rhizosphere-plant system: Phytotoxicity, enzyme activity, and microbial community

Researchers tested how three common types of microplastics (polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene) affect lettuce growth and soil health. All three types inhibited plant growth, disrupted antioxidant systems in the leaves, and altered the microbial communities in the soil around roots, with polystyrene and polypropylene causing the most disturbance.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 122 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Soil Microplastics on Plant Growth and Soil Health

A greenhouse experiment found that polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics at increasing concentrations reduced lettuce biomass, altered soil microbial activity, and changed soil structure and water retention, with effects more pronounced at higher MP concentrations.

2025 Knowledgeable Research A Multidisciplinary Journal
Article Tier 2

Micro plastic driving changes in the soil microbes and lettuce growth under the influence of heavy metals contaminated soil

Researchers studied how microplastics interact with heavy metals in contaminated soil and their combined effects on lettuce growth and soil bacteria. Different types of microplastics altered soil chemistry and changed which microbes thrived, sometimes making heavy metals more available to plants. The study suggests that microplastic-contaminated agricultural soil could affect both the safety and nutritional quality of leafy vegetables that people eat.

2024 Frontiers in Plant Science 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable microplastics induce profound changes in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) defense mechanisms and to some extent deteriorate growth traits

Researchers tested the effects of biodegradable plastic microplastics on lettuce growth and found that while the plants still grew, the microplastics caused significant stress at the cellular level. The plastic particles reduced chlorophyll content, triggered oxidative stress, and forced plants to activate their defense mechanisms, which affected their weight and nutrient content. This challenges the assumption that biodegradable plastics are harmless to crops and raises questions about food quality from microplastic-contaminated soil.

2024 Environmental Pollution 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil microorganisms play an important role in the detrimental impact of biodegradable microplastics on plants

Researchers found that biodegradable microplastics harmed vegetable crop growth by disrupting the soil microbial community rather than through direct contact with the plants. When soil microorganisms were suppressed, the negative effects of the biodegradable microplastics on plant growth were also reduced. The study suggests that soil bacteria and fungi play a key role in mediating the harmful impacts of biodegradable plastics on agricultural crops.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil biota modulate the effects of microplastics on biomass and diversity of plant communities

Researchers used mesocosm experiments with natural soil biota to compare the effects of biodegradable and non-biodegradable microplastics on plant community biomass and diversity. Soil biota modulated the impact of microplastics, with biodegradable plastics showing similar effects to conventional plastics on plant community structure, challenging the assumption that biodegradable alternatives are environmentally benign.

2024 Journal of Applied Ecology 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable and conventional microplastics exhibit distinct microbiome, functionality, and metabolome changes in soil

Researchers compared the effects of conventional plastics (polyethylene and polystyrene) and biodegradable plastics (polylactide and polybutylene succinate) on soil microbial communities. They found that both types of microplastics significantly altered soil microbial composition, but biodegradable microplastics had a more pronounced impact on soil metabolic function and microbial activity than conventional ones.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 252 citations
Article Tier 2

The Structural and Functional Responses of Rhizosphere Bacteria to Biodegradable Microplastics in the Presence of Biofertilizers

Researchers studied how biodegradable microplastics interact with biofertilizers in crop soils and found that even though biodegradable plastics are designed as greener alternatives, they still significantly altered soil bacterial communities and disrupted carbon metabolism pathways. The findings suggest that biodegradable microplastics may affect soil health differently than conventional plastics, but are not necessarily harmless.

2024 Plants 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable PBAT microplastics adversely affect pakchoi (Brassica chinensis L.) growth and the rhizosphere ecology: Focusing on rhizosphere microbial community composition, element metabolic potential, and root exudates

Researchers compared biodegradable PBAT plastic microplastics with conventional polyethylene microplastics in soil and found that the biodegradable version actually caused more harm to plant growth and soil health. PBAT microplastics reduced nutrient availability, disrupted the soil microbial community, and altered root chemistry more than conventional plastic. This finding challenges the assumption that biodegradable plastics are always safer for the environment.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 66 citations
Article Tier 2

The short-term effect of microplastics in lettuce involves size- and dose-dependent coordinate shaping of root metabolome, exudation profile and rhizomicrobiome

Researchers exposed lettuce plants to polyethylene plastic particles of four different sizes and concentrations, finding that the plastics altered root chemistry, changed what the roots released into the soil, and shifted the bacteria living around them. The effects depended strongly on particle size, with smaller particles causing different metabolic changes than larger ones. This study shows that microplastics in farm soil can change the biology of food crops from the roots up, potentially affecting both crop health and nutritional quality.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of co-exposure of antibiotic and microplastic on the rhizosphere microenvironment of lettuce seedlings

Researchers examined how the combination of antibiotics and polyethylene microplastics in agricultural soil affects lettuce seedling growth and the microbial community around plant roots. They found that combined exposure altered soil bacterial diversity, changed the chemical profile of root-zone metabolites, and affected nutrient cycling differently than either contaminant alone. The study highlights the compounding environmental risks when antibiotics from animal manure and microplastics from plastic films co-exist in farmland soils.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Short-term exposure to biodegradable mulch-film microplastics at field-realistic levels shows no effect on lettuce performance and soil health

Researchers ran an 8-week outdoor pot experiment exposing lettuce to environmentally relevant concentrations of PBAT, starch-based, and polyethylene microplastics, finding no significant differences in plant biomass, soil nutrient availability, or microbial activity, suggesting short-term low-dose biodegradable microplastic exposure may not impair lettuce growth or soil health.

2026 Microplastics and Nanoplastics
Article Tier 2

Negative effects of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) microplastics on Arabidopsis and its root-associated microbiome

Researchers found that the biodegradable plastic PBAT had greater inhibitory effects on Arabidopsis growth than conventional LDPE microplastics, disrupting photosynthesis and altering root-associated microbial communities in ways that suggest biodegradable plastics are not necessarily safer for soil ecosystems.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 149 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics on plant growth and bacterial community in the soil

Researchers compared the effects of regular polyethylene and biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics on soybean growth and soil bacteria. Surprisingly, the biodegradable microplastics caused more harm than conventional ones, significantly reducing root growth and altering soil bacterial communities important for nitrogen fixation. This finding challenges the assumption that biodegradable plastics are always safer for the environment and raises questions about their impact on food crops.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 257 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of different microplastics on the physicochemical properties and microbial diversity of rice rhizosphere soil

Researchers compared how conventional polyethylene and biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics, both fresh and aged, affect rice paddy soil properties and microbial communities. They found that aged microplastics had stronger effects than fresh ones, altering soil pH, nutrient availability, and the composition of root-associated bacteria. The study warns that biodegradable plastics are not necessarily safer for soil health than conventional plastics, especially as they break down over time.

2025 Frontiers in Microbiology 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Unveiling the impacts of biodegradable microplastics on cadmium toxicity, translocation, transformation, and metabolome in lettuce

Researchers studied how biodegradable microplastics interact with cadmium contamination in lettuce and found that the combination worsened the toxic effects on plant growth compared to cadmium alone. The biodegradable plastics increased cadmium accumulation in the edible parts of the lettuce and altered how the metal was distributed within plant cells. The findings raise concerns about using biodegradable plastic mulch in soils already contaminated with heavy metals, as it may increase the amount of toxic metals that end up in food crops.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable microplastics affect tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) growth by interfering rhizosphere key phylotypes

Scientists found that biodegradable microplastics, often promoted as eco-friendly alternatives, can negatively affect tomato plant growth by disrupting beneficial soil bacteria around the roots. This suggests that even plastics designed to break down in the environment may still pose risks to agriculture and food production as they degrade into microplastic fragments.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of biodegradable microplastics and Cd co-pollution on Cd bioavailability and plastisphere in soil-plant system

Researchers examined how biodegradable microplastics interact with cadmium contamination in agricultural soil where lettuce is grown. They found that the biodegradable plastics indirectly increased cadmium availability to plants by lowering soil pH and changing soil chemistry. The study suggests that even eco-friendly biodegradable plastics may worsen heavy metal contamination risks in farming soils.

2024 Chemosphere 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Multi-omics reveals different impact patterns of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on the crop rhizosphere in a biofertilizer environment

Researchers used advanced multi-omics techniques to compare how conventional polyethylene microplastics and biodegradable plastic microplastics affect the root zone of crops grown with biofertilizer. They found that both types disrupted the soil microbial community, but through different mechanisms, with biodegradable plastics unexpectedly causing more changes to the bacterial community structure. The study suggests that even biodegradable agricultural plastics may interfere with the effectiveness of biofertilizers in soil.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 21 citations