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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Impact of Wastewater on the Soil–Plant–Atmosphere Interface: Challenges and Remediation Approaches
ClearMicroplastics in Irrigation Systems: A Growing Threat to Agriculture Soil and Crop Plant
This review examines how microplastics enter agricultural soil through irrigation water, where they can degrade soil quality and harm plant growth. Microplastics from wastewater, plastic mulch, and contaminated water sources accumulate in farmland and can be taken up by crops. The study highlights a growing concern that irrigated agriculture may be a major pathway for microplastics to enter the human food supply.
Occurrence and environmental consequences of microplastics and nanoplastics from agricultural reuse of wastewater and biosolids in the soil ecosystem: A review
This review examines how wastewater and sewage sludge used in agriculture introduce microplastics and nanoplastics into farm soil, where they can persist and accumulate over time. Municipal wastewater can contain thousands of plastic particles per liter, and treated sewage sludge used as fertilizer can contain over 30,000 particles per liter. These practices create a long-term buildup of plastic contamination in agricultural soil that can affect crops, groundwater, and ultimately human food and water supplies.
Microplastics in wastewaters and their potential effects on aquatic and terrestrial biota
This review of over 200 studies found that microplastics from wastewater are contaminating both aquatic and land environments, especially when treated wastewater or sewage sludge is used for irrigation. The microplastics can harm fish, soil organisms, plants, and microbial communities, and they serve as carriers for other toxic pollutants. The findings highlight that wastewater is a major pathway through which microplastics reach farmland and, ultimately, human food and drinking water.
Microplastics in agricultural soils: sources, impacts, and mitigation strategies
This review summarizes how microplastics enter agricultural soils through wastewater irrigation, plastic mulch breakdown, and atmospheric deposition, where they alter soil structure, microbial communities, and water retention. The particles can also carry heavy metals and organic pollutants into the food chain, threatening both crop productivity and human health, making it important to reduce plastic use in farming and improve waste management.
Co-contaminant risks in water reuse and biosolids application for agriculture
This review highlights that treated wastewater and biosolids used in farming contain a complex mixture of pollutants including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria that enter soil and can be taken up by crops. The combined effects of these pollutants may be greater than the sum of their individual risks, underscoring the need for better safety assessments of recycled water and waste used in food production.
Treated wastewater irrigation: unlocking sustainability in agriculture and food security—a comprehensive review
This comprehensive review explores treated wastewater as an alternative irrigation source for agriculture in water-scarce regions. While treated wastewater can improve soil fertility and crop growth, the review notes concerns about contaminants including microplastics that can accumulate in soil and potentially enter the food chain, emphasizing the need for effective treatment technologies.
Microplastics as pollutants in agricultural soils
This review examines how microplastics end up in agricultural soils through sewage sludge application, wastewater irrigation, plastic mulch films, and atmospheric deposition. Researchers found that microplastics interact with soil organisms and can alter soil structure and microbial communities, but standardized detection methods are still lacking. The study highlights the need for research on how microplastics move through soil, their effects on crop health, and global policies to address this growing agricultural concern.
Food safety risks from soil-borne microplastics and antibiotic resistance across vegetable production and consumption pathways
This review examines how microplastics enter agricultural systems through plastic mulch degradation, wastewater irrigation, and organic amendments, and subsequently translocate into plant tissues. The study highlights that microplastics can also carry antibiotic resistance genes that persist through the food chain into human digestion, raising concerns about food safety from soil-borne microplastic contamination.
Possible effects on plants due to microplastics in soils from wastewater effluent reuse or sewage sludge application
This book chapter reviews potential effects of microplastics on plants when microplastic-containing wastewater or sewage sludge is applied to agricultural land. The research addresses how land application of treated sewage can introduce microplastics into soil where they may affect crop growth and food safety.
Possible effects on plants due to microplastics in soils from wastewater effluent reuse or sewage sludge application
This chapter reviews the possible effects of microplastics in soils on plant health, with particular focus on soils irrigated with reclaimed wastewater or amended with sewage sludge — two major pathways for microplastic entry into agricultural land. Evidence suggests that microplastics can affect plant growth and may alter soil properties.
Soil contamination with microplastics (MPs) from treated wastewater and sewage sludge: risks and sustainable mitigation strategies
Researchers reviewed how microplastics from treated wastewater and sewage sludge — both commonly applied to farmland — contaminate agricultural soils and ultimately enter the food chain, with alarming evidence of microplastics already detected in human blood, reproductive tissue, and placentas. The review calls for better wastewater treatment and sustainable farming practices to reduce this growing health threat.
Microplastics in Soil Systems: The Overlooked Dimension of Plastic Pollution
This review evaluates research on microplastics in soil systems, highlighting them as an overlooked yet significant dimension of global plastic pollution. Evidence indicates that microplastics can alter soil structure, reduce water-holding capacity, disrupt microbial communities, and act as carriers for antibiotics, heavy metals, and other toxic substances. The study examines major sources of soil microplastics, including agricultural practices, wastewater irrigation, and atmospheric deposition, and discusses mitigation strategies.
Potential for nutrients reuse, carbon sequestration, and CO2 emissions reduction in the practice of domestic and industrial wastewater recycling into agricultural soils: A review
This review examines the practice of recycling treated wastewater and sewage sludge as agricultural irrigation and fertilizer, assessing both the benefits of nutrient reuse and the risks from contaminants. While recycled wastewater can provide valuable nutrients and help reduce carbon emissions, it also introduces pollutants including microplastics into farm soil. The review highlights the need to balance the environmental benefits of wastewater reuse with the potential health risks from microplastic and chemical contamination of food crops.
Microplastic: Evaluating the Impact on Soil-Microbes and Plant System
This review examines how microplastics affect soil microbial communities and plant systems in agricultural settings, documenting impacts on soil health, microbial diversity, and crop physiology. As microplastics accumulate in farmland soils through irrigation, sludge application, and plastic mulches, their effects on the soil ecosystem that underpins food production are a growing concern.
Microplastics in Agricultural Soils: An Emerging Threat to Soil Health, Microbial Ecology, Crop Productivity, and Food Safety
This review examines how microplastics accumulate in agricultural soils from sources like plastic mulch, sewage sludge, and atmospheric deposition. Researchers found that these particles can disrupt soil microbial communities, harm plant health, and potentially enter the human food chain. The study highlights the urgent need for mitigation strategies to address this growing but often overlooked form of pollution in farmland.
Current situation of organic pollution in farmland soil
This review examines organic pollutants in farmland soil — including pesticides, microplastics, plasticizers, and antibiotics — finding that their widespread use from agriculture, sewage irrigation, and industrial activities poses serious threats to crop quality, food safety, and human health.
Sewage Sludge-Mediated Microplastic Transfer to Agroecosystem: A Comprehensive Review on Detection, Fate and Ecological Impacts
This review study shows that tiny plastic particles called microplastics are getting into farm soil through sewage sludge that's used as fertilizer. When wastewater treatment plants process our sewage, they capture these plastic bits in the leftover sludge, which farmers then spread on their fields. This matters because these microplastics could potentially affect our food supply and soil health, but scientists still need more research to understand the full risks.
Effects of long-term wastewater irrigation on microplastics pollution in agricultural soil
Researchers studied how long-term irrigation with treated wastewater affects microplastic levels in farmland soil in Turkey. They found that irrigated soils contained roughly twice as many microplastic particles as control soils, with fibers and films being the most common shapes. The study suggests that using treated wastewater for agriculture is a significant pathway for microplastic contamination of cropland.
Tiny toxins, big problems: the hidden threat of microplastic in agroecosystems
This review examines the impacts of microplastic contamination in agricultural soils, covering sources from plastic mulch and irrigation, effects on soil structure, water retention, microbial diversity, and nutrient cycling, and consequences for crop health and food safety.
Current levels and composition profiles of microplastics in irrigation water
Microplastic concentrations and polymer types were characterized in irrigation water sources, finding widespread contamination that represents a direct pathway for microplastics to enter agricultural soils with every irrigation cycle. The findings highlight irrigation as an overlooked vector for microplastic transfer into food-producing environments.
Biological Risks of Waste Water for Irrigation
This study examined the biological risks of using treated wastewater for irrigation, including contamination by pathogens, heavy metals, and microplastics, and the implications for agricultural sustainability and public health.
Uptake of Emerging Contaminants and Pathogens by Plants: Use and Impact of Wastewater
This review examines how emerging contaminants—including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and pathogens—are taken up by plants irrigated with treated wastewater. The authors find that plant uptake depends on root morphology, contaminant properties, and treatment level, and conclude that risks to food safety from wastewater reuse remain insufficiently characterized.
Microplastics in agricultural soils: sources, impacts on soil organisms, plants, and humans
This review examines how microplastics get into farm soils from sources like plastic mulching, wastewater, and fertilizers, and how they affect soil organisms, plant growth, and ultimately human health. The research shows microplastics can damage crop roots, harm earthworms and soil life, and when they enter the food chain, may cause liver damage, inflammation, and immune system problems in people.
Microplastics in agriculture – a potential novel mechanism for the delivery of human pathogens onto crops
This paper explores how microplastics in agricultural soil could carry human pathogens onto food crops, creating a new route for foodborne illness. Plastic surfaces quickly become colonized by bacteria, including dangerous species from wastewater and animal manure, forming a community called the plastisphere. Since microplastics can stick to ready-to-eat crops and are difficult to wash off, they could transfer harmful bacteria directly to people through the food supply.