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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Mechanism of nanoplastics altering soil carbon turnover under freeze-thaw cycle
ClearTransport Mechanisms of Nanoplastics in Agricultural Soils Under Snowmelt Infiltration Conditions in Cold Regions
Researchers investigated how nanoplastics migrate with snowmelt water through three agricultural soil types (luvisol, chernozem, and albic soil) under freeze-thaw conditions, finding that chernozem showed peak nanoplastic concentrations of 25.62 mg/kg in the vertical profile and that biochar amendment modified nanoplastic transport behavior across all soil types.
Freeze-thaw aged polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics alter enzyme activity and microbial community composition in soil
This study found that when polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics go through freeze-thaw cycles (as they would in cold-climate soils), their surfaces change in ways that alter soil enzyme activity and shift microbial communities. These findings matter because changes in soil microbes can affect nutrient cycling and crop health, with potential downstream effects on human food systems.
TheOverlooked Driver of Microplastic Chemical Oxidationin Cold Soils: Reactive Oxygen Species Generation Mediated by Freeze–ThawCycles
Researchers found that freeze-thaw cycles drive the oxidative aging of aromatic microplastics — including PET, PLA-PBAT, and polystyrene — in cold soils by generating reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, a mechanism absent in non-aromatic polymers like polyethylene and polyamide.
Microplastic-Induced Alterations in Soil Aggregate-Associated Carbon Stabilization Pathways: Evidence from δ13C Signature Analysis
Researchers conducted a year-long field experiment to understand how different types of microplastics affect carbon storage in soil. They found that conventional plastics like polyethylene and PVC destabilized soil structures and released stored carbon, while biodegradable plastics like PLA and PHA helped maintain soil integrity. The study provides evidence that the type of plastic contaminating agricultural soils significantly influences whether carbon is retained or lost.
Mobility of polypropylene microplastics in stormwater biofilters under freeze-thaw cycles
Researchers discovered that freeze-thaw cycles move deposited microplastics deeper into stormwater biofilter soil than simple drying-and-wetting cycles, because expanding ice crystals break up the soil and release trapped particles. This finding suggests that in cold climates, microplastics filtered from stormwater could migrate further underground than previously estimated.
Transport of plastic particles in natural porous media under freeze–thaw treatment: Effects of porous media property
Researchers tested how freeze-thaw cycling affects the transport of nanoplastics through columns of natural soils with different textures. Freeze-thaw treatment increased nanoplastic transport through quartz sand by smoothing grain surfaces but reduced transport through loamy and sandy natural soils by creating new retention sites, demonstrating that soil type determines how freeze-thaw affects plastic mobility.
Impact of freeze-thaw cycles on the remobilization behaviors of microplastics in natural soils
Freeze-thaw cycling significantly promoted the remobilization of plastic particles (0.2 and 1 µm) retained in natural soils and quartz sand during subsequent water flushing, with natural soils retaining more particles initially but showing comparable release upon thaw due to pore structure disruption.
Microplastics Can Inhibit Organic Carbon Mineralization by Influencing Soil Aggregate Distribution and Microbial Community Structure in Cultivated Soil: Evidence from a One-Year Pot Experiment
Researchers conducted a one-year pot experiment to study how different types and concentrations of microplastics affect soil carbon cycling and aggregate stability. They found that microplastics significantly altered soil aggregate size distribution and decreased organic carbon mineralization rates regardless of polymer type. The study suggests that microplastic contamination may slow the natural breakdown of organic carbon in agricultural soils by changing soil structure and microbial communities.
Disentangling microplastics effects on soil structure, microbial activity and greenhouse gas emissions
Researchers studied how microplastics affect soil structure, microbial activity, and greenhouse gas emissions, finding complex interactions that depend on microplastic type and concentration. The presence of microplastics in soils can alter the biological processes that regulate carbon storage and nutrient cycling.
The Overlooked Driver of Microplastic Chemical Oxidation in Cold Soils: Reactive Oxygen Species Generation Mediated by Freeze–Thaw Cycles
Researchers found that freeze-thaw cycles selectively oxidize microplastics containing conjugated aromatic structures such as PET and polystyrene through reactive oxygen species generation during the initial freezing phase, while non-aromatic polymers like polyethylene and polyamide undergo no oxidative aging under the same conditions.
Revealing the Freezing-Induced Alteration in Microplastic Behavior and Its Implication for the Microplastics Released from Seasonal Ice
Researchers revealed how freeze-thaw cycling alters microplastic behavior in environmental matrices, finding that freezing changes particle aggregation, surface properties, and transport dynamics with implications for polar and seasonally frozen environments.
Mechanism of polyethylene and biodegradable microplastic aging effects on soil organic carbon fractions in different land-use types
Researchers compared how polyethylene and biodegradable microplastics at different stages of aging affect soil organic carbon fractions across various land-use types. The study found that both types of microplastics altered soil carbon dynamics, but the effects depended on the plastic type, its degree of aging, and the specific land-use context.
Microplastic effects on carbon cycling processes in soils
Researchers reviewed how microplastics affect carbon cycling processes in soils, including their influence on microbial activity, plant growth, and litter decomposition. Since microplastics are themselves carbon-based materials, they can directly alter soil carbon stocks while also indirectly shifting microbial communities. The study calls for a major research effort to understand the widespread effects of microplastics on soil functioning and terrestrial ecosystem health.
Effects of micro(nano)plastics on soil nutrient cycling: State of the knowledge.
This review systematically examined how micro- and nano-plastics affect soil nutrient cycling for carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, finding that physical interference with soil structure, alteration of microbial communities, and chemical toxicity collectively disrupt mineralization, nitrification, and phosphorus availability in contaminated soils.
Effects of microplastics on soil organic carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in the context of straw incorporation: A comparison with different types of soil
Researchers combined microplastic treatments with straw incorporation in different soil types and measured effects on soil organic carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, finding that microplastics altered carbon cycling and in some soils increased CO2 and N2O emissions.
Microplastics induced the differential responses of microbial-driven soil carbon and nitrogen cycles under warming
Researchers examined how the combination of microplastic pollution and warming temperatures affects soil carbon and nitrogen cycling driven by microbial communities. The study found that microplastics altered microbial responses to warming in ways that disrupted both carbon decomposition and nitrogen transformation processes in soil.
Nanoplastics alter ecosystem multifunctionality and may increase global warming potential
Researchers evaluated how positively and negatively charged polystyrene nanoplastics affect soil ecosystem functions, including nitrogen removal, greenhouse gas emissions, and microbial communities, with and without earthworms. The study found that nanoplastics significantly altered soil microbial community structure and ecosystem multifunctionality, with positively charged particles having more pronounced effects, and evidence indicating that nanoplastics may increase global warming potential through altered greenhouse gas emissions.
Aged polyethylene microplastics reduce CO2 emissions by altering carbon degradation genes rather than soil chemical properties at different aggregate scales
Researchers found that aged polyethylene microplastics reduce soil CO2 emissions by altering carbon degradation gene expression across different soil aggregate size classes, rather than by changing soil chemical properties. Microplastics aged for two months showed greater suppression of carbon mineralization genes than freshly added microplastics, with effects varying across macroaggregates, microaggregates, and silt-clay fractions.
Freeze-thaw aging increases the toxicity of microplastics to earthworms and enriches pollutant-degrading microbial genera
This study found that microplastics aged by freeze-thaw cycles, which happen naturally in cold climates, became more toxic to earthworms than fresh microplastics. The aged particles caused more oxidative stress and disrupted the worms' gut bacteria and metabolism. Since earthworms are essential for soil health and agriculture, this increased toxicity could affect the quality of soil used to grow food.
Microplastic effects on carbon cycling in terrestrial soil ecosystems: Storage, formation, mineralization, and microbial mechanisms
Microplastics in soil contribute to organic carbon storage through degradation and leaching, but also disrupt carbon cycling by altering plant growth, litter decomposition, and microbial activity. The net effect on soil CO2 and CH4 emissions varies depending on how microplastics reshape microbial community structure and enzyme activity.