Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics and cadmium co-contamination on the soybean-soil system: Integrated metabolic and rhizosphere microbial mechanisms

Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics and cadmium interact in soybean-soil systems and found that specific microplastic concentrations enhanced cadmium accumulation in roots under moderate contamination. Higher microplastic levels reduced beneficial soil bacteria like Sphingomonas and Bradyrhizobium and suppressed nitrogen-cycling functions. The study demonstrates that microplastics fundamentally alter heavy metal behavior through interconnected plant-metabolite-microbe interactions in agricultural soils.

2026 Environmental Pollution
Article Tier 2

Impacts of the coexistence of polystyrene microplastics and pesticide imidacloprid on soil nitrogen transformations and microbial communities

Researchers investigated the combined effects of polystyrene microplastics and the pesticide imidacloprid on soil nitrogen cycling and microbial communities over 28 days. They found that both pollutants individually and together significantly altered nitrogen transformation processes and shifted microbial community composition. The study suggests that the co-presence of microplastics and pesticides in agricultural soils can create compounding disruptions to essential nutrient cycling.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of combined microplastic and cadmium pollution on sorghum growth, Cd accumulation, and rhizosphere microbial functions

Researchers examined how different types and sizes of microplastics interact with cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, to affect sorghum growth and soil microbes. They found that the combined pollution generally increased plant stress and cadmium uptake, with effects varying by plastic type, particle size, and concentration. The study also revealed that the pollution mixture significantly altered soil bacterial communities and key metabolic pathways involved in nutrient cycling.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 28 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

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

Insights into soil autotrophic ammonium oxidization under microplastics stress: Crossroads of nitrification, comammox, anammox and Feammox

This study found that microplastics in soil disrupted key nitrogen cycling processes carried out by bacteria, including nitrification and other pathways essential for soil fertility. Different types of microplastics had varying effects on the microbial communities responsible for converting nitrogen into forms plants can use. Since nitrogen availability directly affects crop growth, microplastic contamination in agricultural soil could subtly undermine food production.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactive effects of microplastics and cadmium on soil properties, microbial communities and bok choy growth

Researchers grew bok choy in soil amended with polyethylene microplastics (0.5-2% by weight) and cadmium to assess interactive effects on soil properties, microbial communities, and plant growth. Combined exposure produced distinct synergistic and antagonistic interactions compared to either pollutant alone, altering soil enzyme activity, bacterial diversity, and plant metal uptake.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of combined contaminants (i.e., microplastics and heavy metals) on the enzymatic activity of soils

Researchers assessed the combined and individual effects of heavy metals and microplastics on soil dehydrogenase enzyme activity across varying concentrations and exposure durations in controlled laboratory experiments. The combined presence of both pollutants caused greater reductions in enzymatic activity than either contaminant alone, demonstrating synergistic toxicity in soil microbial function.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Polyethylene microplastic and soil nitrogen dynamics: Unraveling the links between functional genes, microbial communities, and transformation processes

Researchers conducted a six-month experiment to understand how polyethylene microplastics in soil affect nitrogen cycling, a process critical for soil fertility and plant nutrition. They found that while total nitrogen levels stayed stable, microplastics significantly altered the forms of nitrogen present by increasing ammonium and nitrate while decreasing dissolved organic nitrogen. The study suggests that microplastics reshape soil microbial communities and their nitrogen-processing activities, potentially disrupting the natural nutrient balance in agricultural soils.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 102 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics and cadmium on the soil-wheat system as single and combined contaminants

Researchers found that polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics combined with cadmium reduced wheat chlorophyll concentrations and affected soil-plant systems differently depending on pollution levels, revealing complex interaction effects between co-contaminants.

2023 Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Coupled Effects of Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Soil–Plant Systems: Impact on Soil Properties and Cadmium Uptake in Lettuce

Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics interact with cadmium contamination in soil and its effects on lettuce growth. The study found that microplastics combined with cadmium significantly decreased soil quality and that microplastics can alter cadmium uptake in plants, suggesting that co-contamination of agricultural soils with both pollutants may pose compounded risks to food crop safety.

2025 Toxics 1 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

Microplastics induced the differential responses of microbial-driven soil carbon and nitrogen cycles under warming

Researchers examined how the combination of microplastic pollution and warming temperatures affects soil carbon and nitrogen cycling driven by microbial communities. The study found that microplastics altered microbial responses to warming in ways that disrupted both carbon decomposition and nitrogen transformation processes in soil.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride microplastics promote soil nitrification and alter the composition of key nitrogen functional bacterial groups

Researchers found that polyethylene and PVC microplastics in soil increased nitrification (a key step in the nitrogen cycle) and changed the composition of nitrogen-processing bacteria. These changes could affect soil fertility and the availability of nutrients for crops. The study highlights how microplastic contamination in agricultural soil may have hidden effects on food production by altering fundamental soil processes.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics and heavy metals on soil-plant microbial dynamics

This study examined how polyethylene microplastics interact with heavy metals in soil and found that microplastics significantly reduced plant growth while altering soil enzyme activity and microbial communities. The combination of microplastics and heavy metals disrupted nutrient cycling in the soil in ways that were different from either pollutant alone. These findings suggest that microplastic contamination in agricultural soil could affect crop nutrition and food production.

2023 Environmental Pollution 37 citations
Clinical Trial Tier 1

Combined Effect of Microplastics and Cd Alters the Enzymatic Activity of Soil and the Productivity of Strawberry Plants

This study tested how microplastics and the heavy metal cadmium together affect soil health and strawberry plant growth. The combination of both pollutants reduced soil enzyme activity and decreased strawberry yields more than either pollutant alone. This matters for food safety because microplastics in agricultural soil may amplify the harmful effects of other contaminants already present, potentially affecting both crop productivity and what ends up on your plate.

2022 Plants 115 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

Effects of microplastics and nitrogen deposition on soil multifunctionality, particularly C and N cycling

Researchers conducted a 10-month soil incubation experiment to examine how polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics interact with nitrogen deposition to affect soil function. The study found that microplastics modified both carbon and nitrogen cycling processes, with polyethylene enriching bacteria involved in nitrate processing and polylactic acid enhancing nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Evidence indicates that the combined effects of microplastics and nitrogen deposition on soil ecosystem functions are more complex than either stressor alone.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 131 citations
Article Tier 2

The interaction effects of degradable microplastics and Cd to Folsomia candida soil collembolan

Researchers found that the combined exposure of degradable microplastics and cadmium to soil collembolans (Folsomia candida) produced interaction effects on soil organisms, demonstrating that co-occurring microplastics and heavy metals in real field soils can pose compounded risks to soil ecosystem health.

2022 Research Square (Research Square)
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