Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics and nanoplastics in agriculture—A potential source of soil and groundwater contamination?

Researchers reviewed how microplastics and nanoplastics (tiny plastic fragments) contaminate agricultural soils and can migrate through the soil into groundwater, potentially carrying pesticides and other chemicals with them. They conclude that current analytical tools are inadequate and that plastic fragmentation in soils is a poorly understood but serious threat to drinking water supplies.

2022 Grundwasser 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate and Transport Pathways of Microplastics in Agricultural Soil and their Interaction with Agrochemicals

Researchers reviewed how microplastics and nanoplastics move through agricultural soil and interact with agrochemicals like pesticides and fertilizers. The study highlights that industrialization-driven plastic accumulation fragments into microplastics in farming environments, where their interactions with agricultural chemicals may amplify environmental and food safety risks.

2025 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and nanoplastics barely enhance contaminant mobility in agricultural soils

A mesocosm study found that micro- and nanoplastics in agricultural soils had minimal effect on the mobility of sorbed organic contaminants toward deeper soil layers, suggesting that concerns about plastics significantly enhancing contaminant transport to groundwater may be overstated under typical field conditions.

2021 Communications Earth & Environment 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil contamination with micro- and nanoplastics: environmental risks, challenges, and consequences for agroecosystems and agriculture

This review examines the mechanisms, distribution pathways, and ecological consequences of micro- and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils, detailing impacts on soil structure, biodiversity, food chains, and crop productivity.

2025 Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science Agrochemistry and Ecology
Article Tier 2

Research advances of micro/nanoplastics in groundwater: occurrence, environmental impacts and control strategies

This review examines the emerging issue of microplastic and nanoplastic contamination in groundwater systems, covering their sources, distribution patterns, potential environmental risks, and removal strategies. Researchers highlight that the strong heterogeneity and complexity of underground environments make studying microplastic migration particularly challenging. The study identifies significant knowledge gaps in sampling methods and calls for more research into how microplastics move through groundwater aquifers.

2025 Environmental Pollution 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro/Nanoplastics in Agricultural Soils and Associated Hazard

This review surveys the sources, distribution, and hazards of micro- and nanoplastics in agricultural soils, with particular attention to how MPs interact with soil organisms, alter nutrient availability, and accumulate in crops in ways that threaten both soil health and food safety.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Agricultural Soils: Sources, Fate, and Interactions with Other Contaminants

This review examines how microplastics enter farmland through irrigation, fertilizers, and plastic mulch, and how long-term farming practices affect their spread and aging in soil. The paper highlights that microplastics can either increase or decrease the toxicity of co-existing pollutants like pesticides and heavy metals depending on how strongly each contaminant binds to soil versus plastic particles.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro/nanoplastics: a potential threat to crops

This review examines micro- and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soil and water, summarizing sources, adsorption onto microplastics, uptake pathways into crops, effects on plant growth and physiology, and current detection and removal approaches, while highlighting the limited data on nanoplastic transport in plants.

2023 Vegetable Research 5 citations
Review Tier 2

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.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Hazards Associated with Micro/Nano Plastics in Agricultural Soils

This review examines the hazards of micro- and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils, where plastics enter through mulching films, irrigation with contaminated water, and fertilizer application. The authors discuss how these particles can alter soil structure, affect microbial communities, and potentially transfer into crops that humans consume. The study highlights that agricultural soil contamination with microplastics is an underrecognized risk to both ecosystem health and food safety.

2025 1 citations
Article Tier 2

An overview of microplastic and nanoplastic pollution in agroecosystems

This overview reviewed the current understanding of microplastic and nanoplastic pollution in agroecosystems, examining how agricultural practices like mulching, irrigation, and sludge application introduce plastics into soils and food crops.

2018 The Science of The Total Environment 1287 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and nanoplastics: fate, transport, and governance from agricultural soil to food webs and humans

This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics from agricultural sources like plastic mulch and fertilizers accumulate in soil, get taken up by plants, and enter the food chain. Many lab toxicity studies use unrealistically high plastic concentrations, but even the lower levels found in real farm fields can pose long-term cumulative risks, and major gaps remain in standardized risk assessment methods.

2025 Environmental Sciences Europe 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil Pollution from Micro- and Nanoplastic Debris: A Hidden and Unknown Biohazard

This review examines what is known about the fate and properties of microplastics and nanoplastics in soil, highlighting that agricultural land acts as a long-term sink for the ~300 million tons of plastic produced annually, with major knowledge gaps in detection and ecotoxicological effects.

2020 Sustainability 116 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 Plant Science Today
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in agroecosystems: A review of effects on soil biota and key soil functions

This review examines how microplastic and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils affects soil organisms and ecological functions. Researchers found that plastics enter farmland through multiple pathways including plastic mulch, sewage sludge, and irrigation water, and once present they alter soil properties and exhibit toxic behavior toward soil biota. The study identifies significant knowledge gaps about the long-term impacts of microplastic accumulation on agricultural productivity and food safety.

2022 Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro and nano plastics (MNPs) in agricultural soils: challenges for food security and environmental health

This review examined how micro- and nanoplastics enter agricultural soils through sources like plastic mulch, wastewater irrigation, and sewage sludge, reaching concentrations of up to 10,000 particles per kilogram. The study found that these plastics impair plant nutrient absorption, photosynthesis, and growth, while also carrying toxic pollutants that can transfer through the food chain to humans.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Propensity and repercussion of microplastics in the soil-water-urban continuum

This review examines microplastic sources, transport pathways, and accumulation in soil-water-urban systems, with specific attention to how urbanization and agricultural practices drive microplastic migration into groundwater and the implications for ecosystem services and the 'one health' framework.

2025 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology
Article Tier 2

Do Microplastics and Nanoplastics Pose Risks to Biota in Agricultural Ecosystems?

This review examines the growing presence of micro- and nanoplastics in agricultural soils, estimated at over 0.5 megatons annually. Researchers found that these particles can have varied effects on soil properties, microorganisms, invertebrates, and plants, depending on polymer type, additives, and exposure duration. The study highlights that agricultural soils serve as major reservoirs for plastic pollution and calls for standardized research methods and regulatory guidelines to address the risks to food web safety.

2023 Soil Systems 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic Particle Mobility in Agricultural Soils: A Risk for Groundwater Contamination Amplified by Changing Rainfall Patterns

Researchers used an innovative gold-core nanoplastic tracer method in a lysimeter setup to determine that 92 nm nanoplastic particles can migrate through agricultural soils and reach groundwater systems, with counterintuitively higher mobility found in fine-grained clayey soils than in coarse sandy soils. The study identifies changing rainfall patterns as an amplifying factor for nanoplastic groundwater contamination risk.

2025 ACS ES&T Water
Article Tier 2

Agricultural Soils Containing Micro/Nanoplastics and Related Risks

This review surveys micro- and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils globally, examining input sources including plastic mulch films, irrigation water, sewage sludge, and compost, and assessing the risks MPs pose to soil organisms, plant growth, and food safety.

2025