Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MICROPLASTICS ON PHYTOREMEDIATION OF Cu, Mn and Sr  FROM SERBIAN URBAN SOILS

Researchers investigated the prevalence of microplastics in soils from four Serbian cities and evaluated how microplastic contamination affects the uptake of copper, manganese, and strontium by the bioindicator plant Capsella bursa-pastoris, assessing implications for phytoremediation of urban contaminated soils.

2025 Metallurgical & Materials Engineering Congress of South-East Europe
Article Tier 2

Environmental Impacts of Microplastics in Contaminated Soils: Potential Implications for Cu, Mn, and Sr Phytoremediation

Researchers investigated microplastic occurrence in urban soils from four Serbian cities and found that MPs were significantly associated with the mobility of copper, manganese, and strontium in the soil-plant system, with the weed Capsella bursa-pastoris primarily translocating these toxic elements to its aerial parts. Sites with higher MP concentrations, particularly the mining city of Bor, also showed the highest heavy metal contamination, suggesting MPs may influence phytoremediation efficiency.

2025 Metallurgical and Materials Data
Article Tier 2

Microplastics alter cadmium accumulation in different soil-plant systems: Revealing the crucial roles of soil bacteria and metabolism

A study found that microplastics in soil can change how much cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, is absorbed by food crops, with the effects varying depending on soil type and the amount of plastic present. By altering soil chemistry and bacterial communities, microplastics reshape how pollutants move through farmland and into the food we eat.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 44 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2026 Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Influencing mechanisms of microplastics existence on soil heavy metals accumulated by plants

This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics in soil affect the uptake of heavy metals by plants. Microplastics can change soil chemistry and microbial communities in ways that alter how much toxic metals plants absorb through their roots. This is concerning for human health because microplastic-contaminated agricultural soil could lead to crops that contain higher levels of dangerous heavy metals.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene-nickel interactions in soil: Implications for metal mobility, plant uptake, and human health

Researchers grew medicinal plants (Capsella bursa-pastoris) in soil contaminated with polystyrene microplastics and nickel and found that microplastics increased nickel mobility and bioavailability by shifting metal speciation toward more extractable soil fractions, raising human health risks through plant uptake.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Meta-analysis of impacts of microplastics on plant heavy metal(loid) accumulation

A meta-analysis of 3,226 observations found that microplastics promoted plant uptake of cadmium (11%), lead (30%), and copper (47.1%) in shoots, but decreased arsenic accumulation by 22.6%. Microplastics increased available soil concentrations of these metal cations while lowering soil pH, with machine learning revealing that soil pH and total heavy metal concentration are the primary drivers of plant metal accumulation.

2024 Environmental Pollution 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics on cadmium accumulation in Solanum nigrum L.: A study involving microbial communities and metabolomics profiles

This study found that polyethylene microplastics in soil reduced the ability of a plant known for cleaning up cadmium contamination to absorb the toxic metal. The microplastics changed the soil's microbial community and altered the plant's metabolism in ways that disrupted its natural heavy metal uptake process. This is important because it suggests microplastic pollution in farmland could interfere with natural and engineered soil cleanup strategies for heavy metals.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 9 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 93 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of polypropylene microplastics on the distribution of cadmium, enzyme activities, and bacterial community in black soil at the aggregate level

Researchers found that adding polypropylene microplastics to soil contaminated with cadmium (a toxic heavy metal) changed how the metal distributed across different soil particle sizes and shifted bacterial communities. The microplastics increased cadmium availability in some soil fractions, potentially making it easier for plants to absorb this toxic metal. This suggests that microplastic-contaminated farmland may pose greater heavy metal exposure risks for crops and, ultimately, for people who eat them.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 21 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2023 Soil and Sediment Contamination An International Journal 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Coexistence of microplastics and heavy metals in soil: Occurrence, transport, key interactions and effect on plants

This review examines how microplastics and heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic interact in soil, often creating combined toxic effects on plants that differ from either pollutant alone. These interactions are relevant to human health because contaminated crops can transfer both microplastics and heavy metals to people through the food supply.

2024 Environmental Research 57 citations
Article Tier 2

The Effect of Microplastics-Plants on the Bioavailability of Copper and Zinc in the Soil of a Sewage Irrigation Area

Researchers examined how different concentrations of microplastics affect the bioavailability of copper and zinc in sewage-irrigated soils, finding that microplastics can alter heavy metal mobility and plant uptake, with implications for food safety in contaminated agricultural areas.

2023 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined effects of microplastics and cadmium on the soil-plant system: Phytotoxicity, Cd accumulation and microbial activity

Researchers tested how different microplastic types combined with cadmium affect plant growth and soil health. Aged and biodegradable microplastics increased cadmium uptake in mustard greens more than fresh conventional plastics did. The study also found that microplastics altered soil microbial activity, suggesting that plastic pollution in farmland could change how plants absorb toxic metals from contaminated soil.

2023 Environmental Pollution 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-Mediated Heavy Metal Uptake in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.): Implications for Food Safety and Agricultural Sustainability

Researchers grew lettuce in contaminated soil mixed with different types of microplastics, including fibers, glitter, and fragments from bags and bottles. They found that microplastics altered how heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and copper moved through the soil and into the plants, sometimes increasing uptake of toxic metals in roots while decreasing others in leaves. The results raise concerns about food safety in agricultural areas where both microplastic and heavy metal contamination overlap.

2025 Molecules 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of microplastic pollution in the modification of the physicochemical properties of arable soil and uptake of potential toxic elements by plants

Researchers conducted a series of studies analyzing how microplastic pollution modifies the physicochemical properties of arable soil and affects the uptake of potentially toxic heavy metals by plants, beginning with a comprehensive literature review of microplastic interactions with plant physiology, metals, pesticides, and pathogens.

2025 Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu
Article Tier 2

Microplastics change soil properties, heavy metal availability and bacterial community in a Pb-Zn-contaminated soil

This study found that adding six different types of microplastics to soil contaminated with lead and zinc changed the soil's chemistry, increased the availability of those toxic metals, and shifted the bacterial communities living in the soil. Higher doses of microplastics caused greater disruption, reducing microbial diversity and altering nutrient cycling. The findings suggest that microplastics in contaminated soil could make heavy metals more likely to enter plants and the food chain.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 497 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics on bioaccumulation of heavy metals in rape (Brassica napus L.)

Researchers found that microplastics influenced the bioaccumulation of copper and lead in rapeseed plants, with effects varying by microplastic concentration and heavy metal type, revealing how plastic pollution may alter contaminant uptake in crops.

2021 Chemosphere 165 citations
Article Tier 2

ИСТОЧНИКИ И ПУТИ ТРАНСЛОКАЦИИ МИКРОПЛАСТИКА В ПОЧВЕ И РАСТЕНИЯХ

This review examines sources and translocation pathways of microplastics in soil and plants across agricultural and other terrestrial ecosystems, discussing how microplastics sorb heavy metals and other pollutants and reviewing evidence for their bioaccumulation in agricultural products and implications for human health.

2022 Проблемы агрохимии и экологии
Article Tier 2

Effects of naturally aged microplastics on arsenic and cadmium accumulation in lettuce: Insights into rhizosphere microecology

Researchers studied how naturally aged microplastics in soil affect the uptake of arsenic and cadmium by lettuce. At low concentrations, microplastics actually reduced heavy metal absorption and helped plant growth, but at higher concentrations they increased the amount of toxic metals taken up by the lettuce. This means microplastic-contaminated farmland could lead to higher levels of heavy metals in salad greens and other vegetables that people eat.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Traditional microplastics alter microbial community, metabolites and nutrition in heavy metal-contaminated coastal saline soil

Researchers added three types of microplastics to coastal soil already contaminated with heavy metals (cadmium, copper, and zinc), finding that the plastics altered soil chemistry, shifted microbial communities, disrupted metabolic pathways, and changed how available the toxic metals were to organisms. These findings suggest microplastics can worsen existing heavy metal pollution by changing how metals move through soil ecosystems.

2025 Communications Earth & Environment 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing the Impact of Soil Humic Substances, Textural Fractions on the Sorption of Heavy Metals (Cd, Pb)

Researchers assessed how soil humic substances and textural fractions influence the sorption of cadmium and lead in different Slovak soil types. The study found that the type and quantity of humic materials significantly affect heavy metal retention, which is relevant to understanding how contaminants interact with soil-bound microplastics.

2024 Applied Sciences 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating the distribution of microplastics in soils from e-waste dismantling sites and their adsorption of heavy metals

Researchers studied microplastic distribution in soils at electronic waste dismantling sites and examined how those microplastics absorb heavy metals. They found that microplastic abundance was significantly higher in contaminated soils near e-waste facilities, and that different plastic types varied in their capacity to adsorb metals like copper, lead, and cadmium. The findings suggest that microplastics in e-waste contaminated soils may act as carriers that spread heavy metal pollution through the environment.

2024 Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy 4 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Unveiling the impacts of microplastics on cadmium transfer in the soil-plant-human system: A review

A meta-analysis found that microplastics significantly increase soil cadmium bioavailability by 6.9% and cadmium accumulation in plant shoots by 9.3%, through both direct surface adsorption and indirect modification of soil pH and dissolved organic carbon. This enhanced cadmium mobility through the soil-plant-human food chain amplifies health risks, as co-ingestion of microplastics and cadmium increases cadmium bioaccessibility and tissue damage.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 46 citations