Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Environmental Impacts of Microplastics in Contaminated Soils: Potential Implications for Cu, Mn, and Sr Phytoremediation

Researchers investigated microplastic occurrence in urban soils from four Serbian cities and found that MPs were significantly associated with the mobility of copper, manganese, and strontium in the soil-plant system, with the weed Capsella bursa-pastoris primarily translocating these toxic elements to its aerial parts. Sites with higher MP concentrations, particularly the mining city of Bor, also showed the highest heavy metal contamination, suggesting MPs may influence phytoremediation efficiency.

2025 Metallurgical and Materials Data
Article Tier 2

Distribution of microplastics in (sub)urban soils of Serbia and Cd, As, and Pb uptake by Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik

Researchers surveyed urban and suburban soils in Serbia and found widespread microplastic contamination that influenced how plants absorb heavy metals like cadmium, arsenic, and lead. The presence of microplastics in soil altered the availability of these toxic metals to the medicinal plant shepherd's purse. The study highlights that microplastics can change how other pollutants move through the soil-plant system, potentially affecting both ecosystem and human health.

2024 Chemosphere 5 citations
Article Tier 2

The Effect of Microplastics-Plants on the Bioavailability of Copper and Zinc in the Soil of a Sewage Irrigation Area

Researchers examined how different concentrations of microplastics affect the bioavailability of copper and zinc in sewage-irrigated soils, finding that microplastics can alter heavy metal mobility and plant uptake, with implications for food safety in contaminated agricultural areas.

2023 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene-nickel interactions in soil: Implications for metal mobility, plant uptake, and human health

Researchers grew medicinal plants (Capsella bursa-pastoris) in soil contaminated with polystyrene microplastics and nickel and found that microplastics increased nickel mobility and bioavailability by shifting metal speciation toward more extractable soil fractions, raising human health risks through plant uptake.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics on bioaccumulation of heavy metals in rape (Brassica napus L.)

Researchers found that microplastics influenced the bioaccumulation of copper and lead in rapeseed plants, with effects varying by microplastic concentration and heavy metal type, revealing how plastic pollution may alter contaminant uptake in crops.

2021 Chemosphere 165 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of microplastic pollution in the modification of the physicochemical properties of arable soil and uptake of potential toxic elements by plants

Researchers conducted a series of studies analyzing how microplastic pollution modifies the physicochemical properties of arable soil and affects the uptake of potentially toxic heavy metals by plants, beginning with a comprehensive literature review of microplastic interactions with plant physiology, metals, pesticides, and pathogens.

2025 Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu
Article Tier 2

Microbial synergies in phytoremediation: A comprehensive review

Not relevant to microplastics — this is a review of how soil microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) assist plants in removing pollutants like heavy metals and hydrocarbons through phytoremediation; while the study addresses environmental contamination broadly, it does not examine microplastic pollution or its effects.

2026 International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-Mediated Heavy Metal Uptake in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.): Implications for Food Safety and Agricultural Sustainability

Researchers grew lettuce in contaminated soil mixed with different types of microplastics, including fibers, glitter, and fragments from bags and bottles. They found that microplastics altered how heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and copper moved through the soil and into the plants, sometimes increasing uptake of toxic metals in roots while decreasing others in leaves. The results raise concerns about food safety in agricultural areas where both microplastic and heavy metal contamination overlap.

2025 Molecules 3 citations
Article Tier 2

ИСТОЧНИКИ И ПУТИ ТРАНСЛОКАЦИИ МИКРОПЛАСТИКА В ПОЧВЕ И РАСТЕНИЯХ

This review examines sources and translocation pathways of microplastics in soil and plants across agricultural and other terrestrial ecosystems, discussing how microplastics sorb heavy metals and other pollutants and reviewing evidence for their bioaccumulation in agricultural products and implications for human health.

2022 Проблемы агрохимии и экологии
Article Tier 2

Effects of micro and nanoplastics on plant-assisted bioremediation for contaminated soil recovery: A review

This review examines how the growing presence of micro- and nanoplastics in contaminated soils affects plant-assisted bioremediation, finding that microplastics disrupt the plant-microbe rhizosphere interactions that make phytoremediation effective for removing heavy metals and degrading organic pollutants.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Legacy effect of microplastics on plant–soil feedbacks

Researchers examined the legacy effects of microplastic contamination on plant-soil feedbacks using soil previously conditioned with various microplastic types, finding that residual microplastics altered soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling in ways that affected subsequent plant growth.

2022 Frontiers in Plant Science 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on the phytoremediation of Cd, Pb, and Zn contaminated soils by Solanum photeinocarpum and Lantana camara

Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics at different concentrations affected the phytoremediation efficiency of cadmium, lead, and zinc from contaminated soils by Solanum photeinocarpum and Lantana camara, with effects varying by microplastic dose and plant species.

2023 Environmental Research 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Employing Phytoremediation Methods to Extract Heavy Metals from Polluted Soils

This paper is not directly about microplastics in the typical environmental exposure sense; it studies phytoremediation — using the Dodonaea plant to absorb heavy metals (zinc, nickel, cadmium) from contaminated soil — with no connection to plastic or microplastic pollution.

2024 Ecological Engineering & Environmental Technology 2 citations