Papers

19 results
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Review Tier 2

Microplastics in the soil-groundwater environment: Aging, migration, and co-transport of contaminants – A critical review

This review examines how microplastics behave in the soil-groundwater environment, including how they age through weathering and oxidation, migrate through soil layers, and carry other contaminants along with them. The study suggests that aging increases the ability of microplastics to adsorb pollutants like heavy metals and pesticides, potentially facilitating their transport into groundwater supplies.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 497 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in soil and freshwater: Understanding sources, distribution, potential impacts, and regulations for management

This review synthesizes knowledge on microplastics in soil and freshwater systems, covering their sources, transport mechanisms, ecological and health impacts, and current regulatory frameworks for managing plastic pollution in terrestrial and aquatic environments.

2022 Science Progress 31 citations
Article Tier 2

The Urgent Need to Investigate Microplastic Contamination in Groundwater: Soil and Groundwater Interactions as Key Drivers

This viewpoint paper argued for urgent investigation of microplastic contamination in groundwater, highlighting soil-groundwater interactions as key drivers of subsurface MP transport and emphasizing the gap in current monitoring efforts.

2023 ACS ES&T Water 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in soil environment – a review

This review examines the sources, transport, degradation, and ecological impacts of microplastic contamination in soil environments. The study suggests that soil acts as both a major sink for microplastics and a conduit transporting them to aquatic systems, and that microplastics can negatively affect soil organisms and biogeochemistry, underscoring the need for more research on terrestrial microplastic pollution.

2021 Soil Science Annual 95 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro Plastic Pollution in Soil Environment: A Comprehensive Review

This comprehensive review covers sources, distribution, degradation pathways, and ecological effects of microplastics in soil environments, highlighting threats to soil fauna, microbiota, and plant growth.

2024 Journal of Scientific Research and Reports 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Groundwater in the age of plastic

This review examines microplastic contamination of groundwater globally, synthesizing studies on occurrence, transport pathways through soil and aquifer matrices, and the emerging implications for drinking water safety and groundwater ecosystem health.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the soil environment: Focusing on the sources, its transformation and change in morphology

This review focuses on how microplastics form and change shape in soil environments, tracing their journey from sources like agricultural plastic films, sewage sludge, and tire wear through biological and physical breakdown processes. The authors explain that microplastics do not just shrink over time but undergo chemical changes that can make them more or less toxic. Understanding these transformations in soil is important because it affects how microplastics move through agricultural land and into food crops.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Source, migration and toxicology of microplastics in soil

This review compiles research on the sources, movement, and toxic effects of microplastics in soil ecosystems, an area that has received less attention than aquatic pollution. Researchers describe how microplastics enter soil through agricultural practices, wastewater, and atmospheric deposition, then transfer through food chains to affect organisms at multiple levels. The study identifies major knowledge gaps and proposes management strategies to mitigate the ecological and human health risks of soil microplastic contamination.

2020 Environment International 1141 citations
Article Tier 2

Soils in distress: The impacts and ecological risks of (micro)plastic pollution in the terrestrial environment

This review examines how microplastics affect soil ecosystems, including their transport into soils, changes they undergo in the environment, and their interactions with soil organisms. The effects depend heavily on the type, shape, size, and amount of plastic particles present. Understanding these impacts is important because soil contamination with microplastics can affect food production and ultimately human exposure through the food chain.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 93 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental fate and impacts of microplastics in soil ecosystems: Progress and perspective

This review summarized knowledge on microplastics in soil environments, covering occurrence across agricultural, industrial, and urban soils, transport pathways, and ecological risks to soil organisms and plant communities. The authors identify key data gaps and methodological challenges that currently limit understanding of microplastic fate and impact in terrestrial systems.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 509 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

Mobilization, Speciation, and Transformation of Organic and Inorganic Contaminants in Soil–Groundwater Ecosystems

Not relevant to microplastics — this review covers the mobilization, speciation, and transformation of organic and inorganic contaminants (such as heavy metals and pesticides) in soil and groundwater ecosystems.

2023 Applied Sciences 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic particles in soil: state of the knowledge on sources, occurrence and distribution, analytical methods and ecological impacts

This comprehensive review of plastic particles in soil covered sources, occurrence, analytical detection methods, and ecological impacts, identifying gaps in knowledge about terrestrial plastic fate and effects compared to the more extensively studied marine environment.

2021 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 121 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of microplastics in soil: Occurrence, analytical methods, combined contamination and risks

This review provides a comprehensive overview of microplastic pollution in soil ecosystems, covering sources, detection methods, and ecological impacts. Researchers found that soils are major reservoirs for microplastics, and the study highlights how combined contamination with other pollutants like heavy metals and pesticides may amplify risks to soil organisms and food safety.

2022 Environmental Pollution 75 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances on ecological effects of microplastics on soil environment

This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the ecological effects of microplastics on soil environments. Researchers found that soils serve as major sinks for microplastics, which can alter soil properties, affect plant growth, disrupt soil microbial communities, and interact with other pollutants. The study highlights that terrestrial microplastic pollution may be even more pervasive than aquatic contamination and warrants greater research attention.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 322 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in soils: A review of methods, occurrence, fate, transport, ecological and environmental risks

This review examines the sources, detection methods, and environmental behavior of microplastics in soils, an area that has received far less attention than marine microplastic pollution. Researchers found that microplastics interact with soil properties and organisms in complex ways, potentially entering the human food chain. The study calls for standardized methods and more research into how these tiny plastic particles move through and affect terrestrial ecosystems.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 465 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro plastics in soil ecosystem - A review of sources, fate, and ecological impact

This review covers sources, fate, and ecological impacts of microplastics in soil ecosystems, finding that global plastic production has increased from 1.7 million tonnes in 1950 to over 320 million tonnes annually, with microplastics now detected in soils across all land use types.

2021 Plant Soil and Environment 62 citations
Article Tier 2

The extent and impacts of soil pollution by microplastics

This study examines the extent and impacts of soil pollution by microplastics, reviewing evidence of how microplastic particles accumulate in terrestrial environments and affect soil ecosystems, organisms, and agricultural systems.

2024 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository
Article Tier 2

The Plastic Underground: Are Microplastics in the Subsurface a Ticking Time Bomb for Soil and Groundwater Ecosystems?

Researchers reviewed and investigated how microplastics enter subsurface environments through agricultural practices, irrigation, and streambed infiltration, finding critical knowledge gaps about plastic residence times and impacts on groundwater ecosystems and calling for urgent study of soils as long-term plastic sinks.

2023