Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Migration of Microplastic‐Bound Contaminants to Soil and Their Effects

This chapter reviews how microplastics accumulate in agricultural soils via sewage sludge and compost applications, adsorb heavy metals, organic pollutants, and antibiotics, and transport these contaminants into farmland, posing risks to the food chain and human health.

2023 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in composts, digestates, and food wastes: A review

This review examines how food waste composting and recycling processes can introduce microplastics into agricultural soil. When food waste mixed with plastic packaging is composted or processed through anaerobic digestion, microplastic fragments can end up in the soil amendments spread on farmland. The findings highlight an overlooked pathway by which microplastics enter the food chain, as crops grown in contaminated compost may absorb or accumulate plastic particles.

2023 Journal of Environmental Quality 87 citations
Article Tier 2

From organic fertilizer to the soils: What happens to the microplastics? A critical review

This review traces how microplastics enter agricultural soil through organic fertilizers made from municipal waste, sewage sludge, and animal manure. During the composting process, the microplastics undergo physical and chemical changes that can make them better at absorbing other pollutants from the soil. The review highlights that applying organic fertilizer to farmland is a major but often overlooked pathway for microplastics to contaminate the food supply.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Comprehensive understanding of microplastics in compost: Ecological risks and degradation mechanisms

This review examines how microplastics enter soil through compost made from household waste, sewage sludge, and agricultural waste. Microplastics in compost can disrupt soil structure, reduce fertility, and persist in the environment long after application. Since compost is widely used in farming, this represents a significant pathway for microplastics to contaminate agricultural soil and potentially enter the food chain.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in terrestrial ecosystem: Sources and migration in soil environment

This review highlights that microplastic pollution in soils may be even more widespread than in oceans, entering farmland through plastic mulch, sewage sludge, and fertilizers. Microplastics in soil can transfer into the food chain through plants, raising concerns about long-term human exposure through the foods we eat.

2023 Chemosphere 252 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review on Microplastic in the Soils and Their Impact on Soil Microbes, Crops and Humans

This review examines microplastic contamination in agricultural soils, detailing how microplastic particles act as vectors for toxic organic pollutants and heavy metals, disrupting soil physicochemical properties, microbial communities, crop growth, and ultimately entering the human food chain.

2022 International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in agricultural soils: sources, impacts, and mitigation strategies

This review summarizes how microplastics enter agricultural soils through wastewater irrigation, plastic mulch breakdown, and atmospheric deposition, where they alter soil structure, microbial communities, and water retention. The particles can also carry heavy metals and organic pollutants into the food chain, threatening both crop productivity and human health, making it important to reduce plastic use in farming and improve waste management.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in agricultural soils from mulch films and organic amendments: Transformation mechanism, soil-Biota toxicity, and future perspectives

This review examines how agricultural soils are becoming increasingly contaminated with microplastics from plastic mulch films and organic amendments like compost, with land-based contamination being 4 to 23 times higher than in water. Microplastics in farmland can harm soil organisms, disrupt soil structure, and enter the food chain through crops, posing potential risks to human health.

2025 Waste Management 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Organic fertilizers as a vector of microplastics: A comprehensive review of sources, dispersion, and environmental consequences

This review synthesized evidence on how organic fertilizers — including sewage sludge and composts — act as vectors for microplastic transport into agricultural soils. The authors document how MPs from degraded plastics, textiles, and personal care products enter farming systems and affect soil health, plant growth, and the broader food chain.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Plastics
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Soils as a Source of Pollution and Environmental Risk

This book chapter reviews microplastics as a soil pollutant, covering sources, distribution, persistence, and ecological risks in terrestrial environments. Agricultural soils are particularly at risk due to plastic mulch film use, sewage sludge application, and atmospheric deposition.

2022 ˜The œhandbook of environmental chemistry 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro/Nanoplastics in Agricultural Soils and Associated Hazard

This review surveys the sources, distribution, and hazards of micro- and nanoplastics in agricultural soils, with particular attention to how MPs interact with soil organisms, alter nutrient availability, and accumulate in crops in ways that threaten both soil health and food safety.

2025
Article Tier 2

Assessment of soil microplastics: An overview on toxicity, effects on heavy metals adsorption, solid-phase extraction, and detection techniques

This review examined how microplastics in soil enter the food chain and pose human health risks, with particular attention to their role as carriers for heavy metals. Agricultural practices like plastic mulching and sewage sludge application were identified as major sources of soil MP contamination.

2025 Sustainable Environment
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Agricultural Soils: An Emerging Threat to Soil Health, Microbial Ecology, Crop Productivity, and Food Safety

This review examines how microplastics accumulate in agricultural soils from sources like plastic mulch, sewage sludge, and atmospheric deposition. Researchers found that these particles can disrupt soil microbial communities, harm plant health, and potentially enter the human food chain. The study highlights the urgent need for mitigation strategies to address this growing but often overlooked form of pollution in farmland.

2025 International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the agricultural soils: Pollution behavior and subsequent effects

This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics accumulate in farmland through fertilizers, irrigation, plastic mulch, and atmospheric fallout. Microplastics change soil structure, harm beneficial microbes, and can be taken up by crops, moving through the food chain to humans. The authors emphasize that more research is needed to understand the long-term health risks of eating food grown in microplastic-contaminated soil.

2024 Land Degradation and Development 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate, Transport Pathways, and Accumulation of Microplastics Agricultural Soil and Their Interaction with Agrochemicals

This book chapter reviews the sources, transport pathways, and accumulation dynamics of microplastics in agricultural soils and food systems, examining how plastic particles move from field to fork and what the implications are for food safety and human dietary exposure.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as an underestimated emerging contaminant in solid organic waste and their biological products: Occurrence, fate and ecological risks

This review identified solid organic waste streams including compost, sewage sludge, and food waste as important but underappreciated repositories of microplastics that can reintroduce particles into agricultural soils and water systems. The authors call for standardized monitoring of microplastics in organic waste before environmental application.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 71 citations
Review Tier 2

Microplastic contamination and accumulation in municipal solid waste: A global review of sources, pathways, and impacts

This global review examines microplastic contamination in municipal solid waste, covering sources from landfills, sewage sludge, compost, and food waste, and how plastic particles from these land-based waste streams enter soil, groundwater, and eventually the food chain.

2025 Environmental Health Engineering and Management
Article Tier 2

Distribution characteristics of microplastics in typical organic solid wastes and their biologically treated products

Researchers extracted and characterized microplastics from food waste, livestock manure, sludge, and their composted or digested products, finding MPs in all organic waste types with concentrations varying by matrix. The study highlights organic waste management pathways as an understudied route for microplastic transfer to agricultural soils.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as vectors of antibiotics, heavy metals, and PFAS from agricultural soils to the food chain: Sources, transport pathways, and human health implications

This review examines how microplastics in agricultural soils can adsorb and transport antibiotics, heavy metals, and PFAS chemicals through the food chain to humans. Researchers found that microplastics act as carriers that concentrate these pollutants and facilitate their uptake by crops and livestock. The study highlights the need for better understanding of how plastic particles serve as vectors for multiple contaminants in food systems.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in terrestrial ecosystems: sources, transport, fate, mitigation, and remediation strategies

This review examines how microplastics from urban, agricultural, and industrial sources are building up in soils worldwide. Wind, water, and soil organisms transport these particles across landscapes, where they persist and can affect soil structure and the health of living things. The authors highlight that land-based microplastic pollution has received far less attention than ocean pollution, despite its potential risks to ecosystems and human health through the food chain.

2025 Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration 52 citations
Article Tier 2

A discussion of microplastics in soil and risks for ecosystems and food chains

This review examines how microplastics accumulate in soils through agricultural practices, landfills, and wastewater, posing risks to ecosystems and food chains. Researchers found that while marine microplastic pollution has been well studied, terrestrial contamination remains poorly understood despite soil receiving more plastic waste than oceans. The study highlights how microplastics can alter soil properties, harm soil organisms, and potentially transfer through the food chain to humans.

2022 Chemosphere 109 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Land and Soil

This review explains how soil acts as a major reservoir and source of microplastic pollution, receiving plastics from sewage sludge, plastic mulch films, and atmospheric deposition, then redistributing them to groundwater and aquatic systems. Microplastics in soil disrupt soil organisms, alter nutrient cycles, and may ultimately affect human health through food and water.

2022 Microplastics 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Quantification of microplastics in biowastes including biosolids, compost, and vermicompost destined for land application

Researchers measured microplastic concentrations in biosolids, compost, and vermicompost destined for land application in New Zealand, finding contamination across all biowaste types. The study highlights how spreading these materials on farmland introduces microplastics into soil, where they could persist and potentially enter the food chain through crop uptake.

2025 Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics 12 citations
Review Tier 2

Occurrence and environmental consequences of microplastics and nanoplastics from agricultural reuse of wastewater and biosolids in the soil ecosystem: A review

This review examines how wastewater and sewage sludge used in agriculture introduce microplastics and nanoplastics into farm soil, where they can persist and accumulate over time. Municipal wastewater can contain thousands of plastic particles per liter, and treated sewage sludge used as fertilizer can contain over 30,000 particles per liter. These practices create a long-term buildup of plastic contamination in agricultural soil that can affect crops, groundwater, and ultimately human food and water supplies.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 8 citations