Papers

20 results
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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

Polyvinyl chloride microplastics reduce Cd(II) adsorption and enhance desorption with soil-dependent mechanisms

The study investigated how polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics affect cadmium adsorption and desorption in two different soil types. Researchers found that PVC reduced cadmium adsorption and promoted its release back into the soil, potentially increasing its bioavailability and environmental risk.

2024 Environmental Technology & Innovation 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in soils with contrasting texture, organic carbon and mineralogy: changes in cadmium adsorption forms and their mobility in soil columns

This study investigated how high-density polyethylene microplastics alter the behavior of cadmium — a toxic heavy metal — in soils with different textures, organic carbon contents, and mineral compositions. Using soil column experiments, researchers found that microplastics changed how cadmium binds to soil particles and how easily it leaches downward, with effects varying depending on the soil type and microplastic particle size. Since cadmium is a known carcinogen and agricultural soils commonly contain both microplastics and heavy metals, understanding their interactions is critical for food safety.

2025 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics influence the adsorption and desorption characteristics of Cd in an agricultural soil

Batch experiments showed that polyethylene microplastics reduced cadmium adsorption but increased desorption in farmland soil, with effects varying by MP dose, particle size, and pH. The findings indicate microplastics could increase cadmium mobility in agricultural soils, potentially raising risks of crop uptake.

2019 Journal of Hazardous Materials 374 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of Microplastics on the Adsorption and Desorption Properties of Cadmium in Soil

Polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics were found to reduce soil's capacity to adsorb cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, raising concerns that microplastic contamination in farmland soils could increase the mobility and risk of heavy metal pollutants.

2022 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-transport of degradable microplastics with Cd(Ⅱ) in saturated porous media: Synergistic effects of strong adsorption affinity and high mobility

Researchers investigated the co-transport of degradable microplastics with cadmium in saturated porous media, finding that these plastics' strong adsorption affinity and high mobility create synergistic effects that enhance heavy metal migration in soil.

2023 Environmental Pollution 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Dual Effects of PVC Microplastics on Cd Mobility in Red Soil: Enhanced Aqueous Concentration Versus Reduced Soil Bioavailability

Microplastics in farmland soils don't just stay put — they can change how toxic metals like cadmium move through the soil and into groundwater. This study found that PVC microplastics dramatically altered cadmium's behavior in red clay soils, doubling the amount of cadmium leaching into soil water while reducing the form available for plant uptake — a paradoxical finding that means lower risk to crops but higher risk of cadmium reaching streams and wells. The results underscore that microplastic pollution and heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils must be assessed together, not in isolation.

2025 Land Degradation and Development 1 citations
Article Tier 2

New insights into the decrease in Cd2+ bioavailability in sediments by microplastics: Role of geochemical properties

Researchers investigated how polyethylene terephthalate microplastics alter the geochemical properties of sediments in ways that reduce the bioavailability of cadmium. PET microplastics shifted cadmium from the readily exchangeable fraction to the organically bound fraction, and the associated changes in microbial activity and organic carbon explained much of the reduction in cadmium bioavailability.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 44 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Aging on the Cd Adsorption by Microplastics and the Relevant Mechanisms].

This study examined how aging affects the ability of microplastics — including polyethylene and polystyrene — to adsorb the heavy metal cadmium. Weathered microplastics showed different adsorption behavior than virgin particles, which has implications for how microplastics transport toxic metals through aquatic environments.

2022 PubMed 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics reduce chemisorption of cadmium in paddy soil and increase its bioaccessibility and bioavailability

Researchers found that polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics reduce cadmium chemisorption in paddy soil while increasing its bioaccessibility and bioavailability, suggesting that microplastic contamination in rice paddies could enhance heavy metal uptake by crops and human dietary exposure.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 51 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Microplastics on the Leaching of Nutrients and Cadmium from Soil].

A soil column experiment showed that polystyrene and polylactic acid microplastics at varying concentrations affected how nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and the heavy metal cadmium leach out of soil during simulated rainfall. Higher microplastic concentrations generally altered leaching patterns, raising concerns that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils could change nutrient availability for crops and increase the mobility of toxic heavy metals into groundwater.

2024 PubMed 2 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

Adsorption Behaviors of Cadmium Regulated by Microplastics Properties in a Forest Soil

Microplastics and cadmium (a toxic heavy metal) frequently pollute forest soils together, and this study examined how different types, sizes, and concentrations of microplastics affect cadmium's behavior in soil. Biodegradable plastics like PBS and PBA adsorbed and released more cadmium than conventional polyethylene, and microplastics altered the soil's organic matter in ways that influenced how cadmium moved and became available to organisms. These findings matter because co-contamination by microplastics and heavy metals in soils may compound environmental and food-chain risks beyond what either pollutant causes alone.

2025 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics and cadmium co-contamination on soil properties, maize (Zea mays L.) growth characteristics, and cadmium accumulation in maize in loessial soil-maize systems

Researchers studied the combined effects of polyethylene microplastics and cadmium on soil properties and maize growth through pot experiments. They found that microplastics altered soil nutrient availability and, depending on size and concentration, either increased or decreased cadmium uptake by the plants. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils can change how crops absorb toxic heavy metals, with potential implications for food safety.

2024 Environmental Pollution 27 citations
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

Polypropylene microplastics affect the distribution and bioavailability of cadmium by changing soil components during soil aging

A 180-day soil aging experiment with polypropylene microplastics at 2-10% concentration showed that microplastics altered the distribution of cadmium between soil particle-associated organic matter, organo-mineral complexes, and mineral fractions. Higher microplastic concentrations shifted cadmium toward more stable organo-mineral associations, reducing its bioavailability over time.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 73 citations
Article Tier 2

Typical microplastics in field and facility agriculture dynamically affect available cadmium in different soil types through physicochemical dynamics of carbon, iron and microbes

Researchers found that polyurethane and polypropylene microplastics dynamically affect cadmium availability in different soil types through changes in soil carbon chemistry, iron mineral forms, and microbial community composition, with effects varying between field and greenhouse agricultural conditions.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Susceptibility of Cd availability in microplastics contaminated paddy soil: Influence of ferric minerals and sulfate reduction

When microplastics and cadmium contaminate paddy soil together — a common situation in agricultural areas — microplastics increase the availability of cadmium to plants, raising the risk of cadmium uptake into food crops like rice. The mechanism involves microplastics releasing dissolved organic matter that disrupts iron mineral cycling and promotes sulfate-reducing bacteria, which in turn mobilize cadmium from soil particles. These findings highlight that microplastic pollution in farmland does not act alone — it can amplify the toxicity of co-occurring heavy metal contaminants.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 11 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Microplastics Coexisting in Vegetable Soil on the Change of Cadmium Bioavailability].

Researchers investigated the effects of biodegradable microplastics co-occurring with cadmium in vegetable soil through a 60-day pot experiment with lettuce, examining how the combined contamination alters cadmium bioavailability and uptake relative to cadmium-only or microplastic-only conditions.

2025 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics in soil on the regulation of cadmium bioavailability by biochar

Researchers investigated how biochar amendments affect cadmium bioavailability in soils co-contaminated with microplastics, finding that the presence of microplastics altered cadmium mobility and complicated biochar's remediation effectiveness in ways that depend on the specific MP type present.

2025 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 2 citations