We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Polyethylene fragments in Argentinean horticultural soils: Environmental transformation to a composite material
ClearInfluence of soil characteristics and agricultural practices on microplastic concentrations in sandy soils and their association with heavy metal contamination
Researchers studied microplastic contamination in agricultural soils that use plastic mulch in arid regions and found significantly higher concentrations in mulched fields compared to control sites. They identified eight different polymer types and found that microplastic levels increased with the duration of mulching use, with heavy metals like iron and nickel accumulating on the plastic particles. The study highlights how agricultural plastic use contributes to long-term soil contamination and the potential for microplastics to serve as carriers of metal pollutants in farmland.
A comparative study on the adsorption behavior of pesticides by pristine and aged microplastics from agricultural polyethylene soil films
Researchers compared how pristine and aged agricultural polyethylene film microplastics adsorb pesticides. They found that aged films, which develop rougher surfaces, more cracks, and oxygen-containing chemical groups, adsorb pesticides more readily than pristine ones. The study suggests that weathered agricultural microplastics in soil may act as carriers for pesticide contamination, potentially increasing environmental and human health risks.
Insight into the interactions between microplastics and heavy metals in agricultural soil solution: adsorption performance influenced by microplastic types
Environmental-simulating microplastics (aged under environmental conditions) showed higher cadmium and chromium adsorption capacity than commercial microplastics in agricultural soil solutions, with surface oxidation increasing adsorption—suggesting that aged microplastics are more effective co-transporters of heavy metals in contaminated agricultural soils.
Natural aging and adsorption/desorption behaviors of polyethylene mulch films: Roles of film types and exposure patterns
This study examined how polyethylene mulch films used in farming break down over time and become sources of microplastic pollution in soil. Films exposed on the soil surface degraded faster than buried ones, and the resulting microplastic fragments were better at absorbing toxic pollutants like lead. Importantly, once pollutants attach to these aged microplastics, they are harder to release -- even in conditions that mimic human digestion -- raising concerns about contamination entering our food chain.
Influence of polyethylene-microplastic on environmental behaviors of metals in soil
Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics affect the adsorption, desorption, and bioavailability of heavy metals in soil. They found that adding microplastics altered how metals bind to soil particles and increased the mobility of certain metals like cadmium and lead. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in soils may change the environmental behavior of heavy metals, potentially increasing their availability to plants and soil organisms.
Exploring the interaction between microplastics and heavy metals: unveiling the impact of microplastics on lead sorption and desorption in soil
Researchers conducted batch experiments to examine how high-density polyethylene microplastics affect the adsorption and desorption of lead in agricultural soil under different conditions, finding that equilibrium was reached within 120 minutes and that microplastics altered lead sorption kinetics. The presence of HDPE microplastics changed soil's capacity to retain or release lead, which has implications for heavy metal mobility and crop uptake in contaminated farmland.
Plastic Beyond the Surface: Multi-Scale Alteration Mechanisms of Polypropylene in Soils
Scientists studied plastic fragments that had been buried in farm soil for 30 years and found they break down into tiny particles called nanoplastics that can carry harmful metals like lead. These nanoplastics are so small they can move easily through soil and potentially into our food and water supply. This research helps explain how everyday plastic waste in our environment creates these concerning tiny particles that could affect human health.
Agronomic practices and road proximity drive plastic pollution in agricultural soils: Insights from Bihar, India on weathering, elemental association, and ecological risk
Researchers surveyed 22 agricultural sites in Bihar, India, measuring microplastic contamination in soil across different farming practices and road distances. Mulched fields near roads had the highest concentrations (up to 1,460 particles/kg), while PE and PP polymers dominated, and microplastics were found to adsorb multiple heavy metals including lead, arsenic, and cadmium.
Evaluating the impacts of microplastics on agricultural soil physical, chemical properties, and toxic metal availability: An emerging concern for sustainable agriculture
This study tested how five common types of microplastics affect soil properties and heavy metal availability in agricultural soil over 90 days. Microplastics changed soil structure, nutrient levels, and water-holding capacity, and actually reduced the availability of toxic heavy metals at higher plastic concentrations -- highlighting the complex ways plastic pollution is altering the farmland that produces our food.
Influence of aged and pristine polyethylene microplastics on bioavailability of three heavy metals in soil: Toxic effects to earthworms (Eisenia fetida)
Researchers studied how aging affects the ability of polyethylene microplastics to influence the bioavailability of zinc, lead, and cadmium in soil, and the resulting toxicity to earthworms. The study found that aged microplastics had different adsorption properties for heavy metals compared to pristine particles, which altered the bioavailability of these metals and affected earthworm health differently depending on microplastic concentration and aging status.
Microplastic alteration in agricultural soils across Europe: Comparative study of MPs inside and outside soil aggregates over two years
Researchers tracked microplastic aging inside and outside soil aggregates in European agricultural soils over two years, comparing fields in multiple countries. Microplastics enclosed within aggregates showed less physicochemical aging than surface-exposed particles, suggesting that aggregate formation can temporarily protect plastics from degradation and prolong their persistence in soil.
Response of soil heavy metal forms and bioavailability to the application of microplastics across five years in different soil types
Researchers conducted a five-year experiment examining how microplastics affect the chemical forms and bioavailability of heavy metals across five different soil types. They found that microplastics generally reduced the readily available forms of heavy metals while increasing the mineral- and organic-bound forms, and that the bioconcentration of chromium and lead decreased substantially. The study suggests that soil type and exposure duration both play important roles in how microplastics influence heavy metal behavior in soils.
Interaction of microplastics with heavy metals in soil: Mechanisms, influencing factors and biological effects
This review summarizes how microplastics and heavy metals interact in soil, where microplastics can absorb and carry toxic metals through the food chain and into the human body. Aging and weathering of microplastics changes their surface properties, making them better at picking up heavy metals, which raises concerns about combined exposure through contaminated crops and water.
Investigating the sustainability of agricultural plastic products, combined influence of polymer characteristics and environmental conditions on microplastics aging
Researchers investigated how polymer characteristics and environmental conditions influence the photodegradation of agricultural plastic products in soil. The study examined low-density polyethylene microplastic degradation under different UV radiation and humidity conditions. The findings suggest that environmental factors significantly affect how agricultural plastics break down into microplastics, with implications for understanding long-term soil contamination from farming practices.
Microplastics in Mediterranean Agricultural Soils: Effects on Soil Properties, Metal Accumulation in Plants, and Implications for Sustainable Agroecosystems
Scientists found that tiny plastic particles in soil make it easier for toxic metals like lead and zinc to move into plants we might eat. Even small amounts of microplastics changed how metals behave in the soil, with some types of plastic causing up to 20% more metal absorption in plants. This matters because these contaminated plants could end up in our food supply, potentially increasing our exposure to harmful metals.
Microplastics in Plastic-Mulched Sandy Soil: Abundance, Characterization, Heavy Metal Accumulation and Risks in Agricultural Fields
This study characterized microplastics in plastic-mulched sandy soils, quantifying particle abundance, polymer types, heavy metal associations, and potential risks to soil organisms from combined plastic and metal contamination.
Polyethylene film incorporation into the horticultural soil of small periurban production units in Argentina
Researchers surveyed Argentine horticultural soils and found plastic film residues covering 10% of the soil area, then demonstrated in laboratory experiments that polyethylene film strongly adsorbs pesticides (up to 2,284 µg per gram of plastic versus 32 µg per gram of soil), suggesting plastic mulch residues act as pesticide reservoirs that may alter contaminant fate in agricultural fields.
Insights into the mechanism of plastics’ fragmentation under abrasive mechanical forces: An implication for agricultural soil health
Researchers studied how mechanical abrasion by soil particles breaks down agricultural plastic films into microplastics, revealing the physical and chemical mechanisms behind fragmentation. They found that repeated friction causes surface cracking and releases progressively smaller plastic fragments into soil. This matters because understanding how farm plastics become microplastics can help develop more durable materials and reduce contamination of agricultural land and food crops.
Effects of microplastic aging on its detectability and physico-chemical properties in loess and sandy soil
This study compared fresh microplastics to aged particles collected from soil and found that weathering significantly changes their physical and chemical properties, including making them more mobile. Aged microplastics may behave very differently in the environment than the pristine particles typically used in laboratory studies.
Adsorption of Pb(II) by UV-aged microplastics and cotransport in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media
Researchers found that microplastics aged by UV sunlight are better at absorbing and carrying lead (a toxic heavy metal) through soil and water than fresh microplastics. The aging process changes the microplastic surface in ways that make it grab onto more lead, potentially spreading this toxic metal further through the environment. This is relevant to human health because aged microplastics in the real world may be transporting more heavy metals into water supplies and food-growing soil than previously thought.
Occurrence, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in agricultural soil around a solid waste treatment center in southeast China
Researchers found microplastic contamination in all agricultural soil samples surrounding a solid waste treatment center in southeastern China, with concentrations up to 2,360 particles per kilogram and evidence that weathered polyethylene and polypropylene particles are accumulating heavy metals on their surfaces.
Vertical profiling of micro-plastics in agricultural soils: polymer types, metal interactions, and implication on crop rooting zones.
Researchers profiled microplastics vertically through agricultural soil at three depths across 11 sites in India, finding that fibers dominated at all depths while fragments and films decreased with depth, with polypropylene and polyethylene as the most common polymers and higher concentrations in crop rooting zones.
Characterization of Microplastics and Associated Heavy Metals in Urban Soils Affected by Anthropogenic Littering: Distribution, Spatial Variation, and Influence of Soil Properties
Researchers sampled soils across residential, commercial, and industrial land-use types in urban areas and found microplastics in every location, with polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyamide as the dominant polymer types, at concentrations up to 850,000 particles per kilogram. Heavy metals were also associated with the plastic particles, meaning microplastics in urban soil may serve as combined carriers of chemical toxicants. The findings highlight urban soil as a major but underappreciated reservoir of microplastic pollution.
Microplastics in agricultural soils: Extraction and characterization after different periods of polythene film mulching in an arid region
Researchers developed a new method to extract microplastics from agricultural soil and found that fields mulched with plastic film for 30 years had the highest microplastic concentrations, at 40 mg per kilogram of soil, with particle size decreasing as the years of mulching increased. The study highlights the long-term accumulation of microplastics in soils under continuous plastic film agriculture.