Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Parameters of labile organic carbon as the indicators of the stability of soil organic matter under different land use

Despite its title referencing soil organic carbon and land use, this paper studies chemical indicators of soil organic matter stability under different farming practices — not microplastic pollution. It examines which carbon fractions best signal how organic matter is protected in forest and agricultural soils, and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2025 Soil and Water Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of forest planting patterns on the formation of soil organic carbon during litter lignocellulose degradation from a microbial perspective

Not relevant to microplastics — this study investigates how different urban forest planting patterns (broadleaf, coniferous, mixed) affect soil organic carbon formation through litter decomposition using metagenomics and metabolomics, without any connection to microplastic pollution.

2023 Frontiers in Microbiology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of land use/land cover change on soil physicochemical properties and soil carbon stock in Kochore district, southern Ethiopia

This study examined how changes in land use in southern Ethiopia affected soil quality and carbon storage over 20 years. While not about microplastics directly, the research is relevant because degraded soils from intensive farming are more vulnerable to microplastic contamination, and healthy agroforestry soils store more carbon and maintain better structure. Understanding soil health is important context for assessing how microplastics affect agricultural land.

2025 Arabian Journal of Geosciences 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics-driven reconfiguration of organic carbon fractions in lake sediments: mineralization and stabilization dynamics of biodegradable polymers

Microplastics in soil were found to alter the composition and distribution of organic carbon fractions, with implications for soil fertility and carbon sequestration. The study reveals that microplastic contamination can reshape the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems.

2025 Water Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Characteristics and Driving Mechanism of Soil Organic Carbon Content in Farmland of Beijing Plain: Implication for the Fate of Engineered Polymers in Soil

This study examined how soil organic matter affects the transport of ions and particles in agricultural soils, relevant to understanding how microplastics interact with soil chemistry. Soil organic carbon content significantly influenced the mobility of contaminants through soil systems.

2019 Advances in Polymer Technology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics indirectly affect soil respiration of different-aged forest by altering microbial communities and carbon metabolism

Researchers explored how microplastics affect soil respiration in forests of different ages by altering microbial community structure and carbon metabolism. The study found microplastic levels ranging from approximately 600 to 3,858 items per sample across forest ages, and that their presence indirectly influences soil carbon cycling processes.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Abundances of agricultural microplastics and their contribution to the soil organic carbon pool in plastic film mulching fields of Xinjiang, China

Researchers found that microplastics in plastic-mulched agricultural fields in Xinjiang, China contribute to the soil organic carbon pool, potentially causing overestimation of soil carbon sequestration when conventional measurement methods fail to separate microplastics from soil.

2023 Chemosphere 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics influence organic carbon depletion in macroaggregates and soil structural stability in the Yanhe catchment

Researchers investigated how microplastics within soil aggregate fractions affect organic carbon retention and structural stability in the Yanhe catchment, finding that microplastics accelerate organic carbon depletion from macroaggregates and reduce soil structural stability. The results suggest that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils may compound land-use-driven degradation of soil quality.

2025 International Soil and Water Conservation Research
Article Tier 2

Soil carbon cycling mediated by microplastics: Formation, mineralization, and sequestration

This review examines how microplastic pollution affects soil organic carbon cycling, covering direct participation in carbon processes and indirect effects on soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities. The authors synthesize mechanisms by which microplastics influence organic carbon formation, mineralization, and sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems.

2024 Scientia Sinica Technologica 1 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Polyethylene Microplastics with Different Particle Sizes on Soil Organic Carbon Characteristics and Mineralization in Agricultural Soil].

Researchers conducted a 180-day indoor soil cultivation experiment to investigate how polyethylene microplastics of different particle sizes — millimeter-scale, micrometer-scale — affect soil organic carbon characteristics and mineralization processes in agricultural soil.

2025 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Can Inhibit Organic Carbon Mineralization by Influencing Soil Aggregate Distribution and Microbial Community Structure in Cultivated Soil: Evidence from a One-Year Pot Experiment

Researchers conducted a one-year pot experiment to study how different types and concentrations of microplastics affect soil carbon cycling and aggregate stability. They found that microplastics significantly altered soil aggregate size distribution and decreased organic carbon mineralization rates regardless of polymer type. The study suggests that microplastic contamination may slow the natural breakdown of organic carbon in agricultural soils by changing soil structure and microbial communities.

2024 Agronomy 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanism of polyethylene and biodegradable microplastic aging effects on soil organic carbon fractions in different land-use types

Researchers compared how polyethylene and biodegradable microplastics at different stages of aging affect soil organic carbon fractions across various land-use types. The study found that both types of microplastics altered soil carbon dynamics, but the effects depended on the plastic type, its degree of aging, and the specific land-use context.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Differential carbon accumulation of microbial necromass and plant lignin by pollution of polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics in soil

This study found that both conventional polyethylene and biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics changed how carbon is stored in soil. The plastics increased carbon from dead microbes while decreasing carbon from plant material, with most of the additional soil carbon coming from fungal remains. These changes to soil chemistry matter because they could affect agricultural productivity and the ability of soil to store carbon, with broader implications for climate and food systems.

2024 Environmental Pollution 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and hydrocarbons in soils: Quantification as an anthropic carbon source

Researchers quantified the carbon contribution of microplastics and hydrocarbons to soil organic carbon in a coastal urban wetland in Argentina, finding an average of 587 items/kg of microplastics (predominantly fibers) that together with total hydrocarbons added up to 1.23 tons of carbon per hectare. The study highlights that conventional loss-on-ignition methods miscount microplastics as soil organic carbon, potentially skewing organic carbon assessments in contaminated soils.

2022 Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Disguising As Soil Carbon Storage

This study investigated whether microplastics in soil are mistakenly counted as carbon storage, finding that microplastic particles can interfere with soil carbon measurements and may cause overestimates of organic carbon in agricultural and natural soils.

2018 Environmental Science & Technology 472 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic effects on soil organic matter dynamics and bacterial communities under contrasting soil environments

Researchers compared microplastic effects on soil organic matter dynamics and bacterial communities across contrasting soil environments, finding that the type of microplastic polymer and soil conditions together determine whether microbial activity and carbon cycling are stimulated or suppressed.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-Induced Alterations in Soil Aggregate-Associated Carbon Stabilization Pathways: Evidence from δ13C Signature Analysis

Researchers conducted a year-long field experiment to understand how different types of microplastics affect carbon storage in soil. They found that conventional plastics like polyethylene and PVC destabilized soil structures and released stored carbon, while biodegradable plastics like PLA and PHA helped maintain soil integrity. The study provides evidence that the type of plastic contaminating agricultural soils significantly influences whether carbon is retained or lost.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Different Landscape Greening Pest Control Modes on Carbon Storage and Soil Physicochemical Properties

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research; it examines how different pest control methods used in urban landscape greening affect soil carbon storage and physicochemical properties in Beijing, with no connection to plastic pollution.

2024 Forests 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Sugarcane/soybean intercropping with reduced nitrogen addition promotes photosynthesized carbon sequestration in the soil

This paper is not directly about microplastics; it investigates how sugarcane-soybean intercropping with reduced nitrogen fertilizer improves carbon sequestration in agricultural soil by increasing root biomass and transferring photosynthesized carbon into stable soil carbon pools.

2023 Frontiers in Plant Science 11 citations
Article Tier 2

A 10-Year Monitoring of Soil Properties Dynamics and Soil Fertility Evaluation in Chinese Hickory Plantation Regions of Southeastern China

A 10-year soil monitoring study in Chinese hickory plantations found that intensive agricultural management caused significant changes in soil chemistry and fertility over time. While not directly about microplastics, understanding soil health in managed agricultural landscapes is relevant to assessing microplastic accumulation in farmland soils.

2021 Research Square (Research Square) 2 citations