Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Combined effect of biochar and soil moisture on soil chemical properties and microbial community composition in microplastic‐contaminated agricultural soil

Biochar was applied to microplastic-contaminated agricultural soil under different moisture conditions, with results showing that biochar improved soil chemical properties and shifted microbial communities in ways that partially offset microplastic-induced degradation. The study suggests biochar as a practical soil amendment to mitigate microplastic impacts in farming systems.

2022 Soil Use and Management 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Advances and prospects of biochar in improving soil fertility, biochemical quality, and environmental applications

This review examines how biochar, a charcoal-like material made from organic waste, can improve soil health and clean up pollutants including microplastics. Biochar's ability to absorb and trap contaminants makes it a promising tool for reducing microplastic pollution in agricultural soil. The findings suggest biochar could help limit the amount of microplastics that enter the food chain through crops grown in contaminated soil.

2023 Frontiers in Environmental Science 127 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar alters chemical and microbial properties of microplastic-contaminated soil

Researchers found that biochar amendments improved chemical and microbial properties of microplastic-contaminated soil, with effects varying by biochar type and water conditions, suggesting biochar as a potential remediation tool for plastic-polluted agricultural soils.

2022 Environmental Research 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Soil Amendments on Soil Properties, Soil-Borne Pathogens, and Strawberry Growth after Dazomet Fumigation

This paper is not about microplastics; it examines how combining soil fumigation with amendments like silicon fertilizer can control soil pathogens and improve strawberry crop yields.

2023 Agriculture 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Applications of biochar in the remediation of soil microplastic pollution: A review

Researchers reviewed the use of biochar as a tool for remediating microplastic-contaminated soil. The study found that biochar application shows promise for addressing soil microplastic pollution by altering soil properties in ways that can reduce microplastic mobility and mitigate their negative effects on soil structure, plant growth, and biogeochemical cycling.

2025 Soil Science Society of America Journal 1 citations
Article Tier 2

How biochar works, and when it doesn't: A review of mechanisms controlling soil and plant responses to biochar

This comprehensive review synthesizes 20 years of research on biochar, a charcoal-like material made from organic waste that can improve soil health and reduce pollution. Biochar can reduce plant uptake of heavy metals by 17-39% and increase nutrient availability, making it potentially useful for cleaning up microplastic-contaminated soils. While not directly about microplastics, the findings are relevant because biochar could help mitigate the effects of soil pollutants that microplastics carry and concentrate.

2021 GCB Bioenergy 872 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar's Effects and Operations on Microbial Life within the Soil Ecosystem- A Review

Not directly relevant to microplastics — this review examines how biochar additions to soil affect microbial community structure, enzymatic activity, and contaminant transformation, without a specific focus on microplastics.

2023 International Journal of Plant & Soil Science
Article Tier 2

Effects of incorporating biochar on soil quality and barley yield in microplastics-contaminated soils

This study tested whether adding biochar to microplastic-contaminated soil could improve soil quality and crop performance. Researchers found that biochar application helped offset some of the negative effects of microplastics on soil properties and boosted barley yields even under drought conditions. The results suggest biochar could be a practical tool for managing farmland affected by plastic pollution.

2024 Chemosphere 7 citations
Review Tier 2

Advancing modified biochar for sustainable agriculture: a comprehensive review on characterization, analysis, and soil performance

This review covers how biochar, a carbon-rich material made from organic waste, can be modified to improve soil health and crop growth. While not directly about microplastics, modified biochar has been studied as a potential tool for absorbing and immobilizing microplastics in contaminated soil. Understanding how to optimize biochar properties could help develop strategies for reducing microplastic uptake by food crops.

2025 Biochar 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Plant-driven strategies for mitigating microplastic pollution in agricultural ecosystems

Researchers review how microplastics damage agricultural soils and crops — disrupting soil structure, starving plants of nutrients, and triggering oxidative stress — and explore plant- and microbe-based strategies like root-associated bacteria and biochar amendments as promising but underexplored tools for cleaning up plastic-contaminated farmland.

2025 Hygiene and Environmental Health Advances
Article Tier 2

Biochar Mitigates the Negative Effects of Microplastics on Sugarcane Growth by Altering Soil Nutrients and Microbial Community Structure and Function

Microplastic contamination in sugarcane-growing soils in China reduces crop biomass and degrades soil nutrients and microbial diversity. Adding biochar to microplastic-polluted soil helped offset these harms — restoring sugarcane growth, stabilizing soil pH, and improving bacterial community richness. The findings suggest biochar is a practical tool for rehabilitating agricultural land affected by plastic pollution.

2023 Plants 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar mitigates microplastic‐induced destabilization of soil organic carbon via molecular recalcitrance and microbial process regulation

Biochar amendments to soil were shown to offset the destabilizing effects that microplastics have on soil aggregate structure. The finding suggests that biochar could be a practical soil amendment to counteract microplastic-driven soil degradation in contaminated agricultural lands.

2025 Functional Ecology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar Mitigates the Negative Effects of Microplastics on Sugarcane Growth by Changing Soil Nutrients and Microbial Community Structure and Function

Researchers investigated the effects of microplastics with and without biochar amendment on sugarcane growth, soil biochemical properties, and microbial community structure in red soil using a potted experiment, finding that microplastics alone reduced dry biomass, soil pH, and nitrogen and phosphorus contents and decreased bacterial diversity. Biochar addition mitigated the negative effects of microplastics by improving soil nutrients and reshaping microbial community structure and function.

2023 Preprints.org 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic biochar‑Bacillus consortium enhances phosphorus availability, root architecture, and inflorescence development in greenhouse cherry tomato

Despite its title referencing biochar and Bacillus soil amendments, this paper studies how combining biochar with beneficial bacteria improves phosphorus availability and crop yield in greenhouse tomato farming — not microplastic pollution. It examines changes in soil microbiology and root development and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2026 Biochar
Article Tier 2

Effect of emerging contaminants on soil microbial community composition, soil enzyme activity, and strawberry plant growth in polyethylene microplastic-containing soils

Researchers found that emerging contaminants altered soil microbial community composition and enzyme activity, but these effects were suppressed when HDPE microplastics were also present in the soil, suggesting microplastics may modulate how soils respond to chemical contaminants.

2023 Environmental Science Advances 11 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of biochar in combating microplastic pollution: a bibliometric analysis in environmental contexts

This bibliometric review used network analysis to map the growing body of research on biochar — a charcoal-like material made from burned organic matter — as a tool for countering microplastic contamination in soils and water. Studies reviewed suggest that biochar can restore soil chemistry, improve microbial diversity, and boost crop yields by 30–81% even when microplastic contamination is high. The findings highlight biochar as a practical, low-cost intervention for farmers dealing with microplastic-polluted land.

2025 Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Black carbon derived from pyrolysis of maize straw and polystyrene microplastics affects soil biodiversity

Researchers found that black carbon produced from co-pyrolysis of maize straw and polystyrene microplastics alters soil microbial diversity and community structure, with effects depending on the ratio of straw to microplastic feedstock, raising concerns about using pyrolysis biochar in agricultural soils.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of Biochar and Microbes in Remediation of Microplastics in Soil

This review examines how biochar and soil microbes can be combined to remediate microplastic-contaminated soils, synthesizing evidence for biochar's adsorption capacity and microbial degradation pathways that reduce microplastic persistence and toxicity.

2025 Journal of Innovative Solutions for Eco-Environmental Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Potential Effect of Biochar on Soil Properties, Microbial Activity and Vicia faba Properties Affected by Microplastics Contamination

Researchers found that microplastic contamination significantly altered soil properties and reduced Vicia faba plant growth and microbial activity, while biochar amendment at 2% effectively mitigated these adverse effects.

2023 Agronomy 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination of coastal hill soils: Perspective of Rohingya Refugee camps in Bangladesh

This study examined whether biochar amendments could mitigate the toxic effects of microplastics on soil bacteria and earthworms. Biochar partially alleviated microplastic-induced oxidative stress and improved soil microbial diversity under co-contamination conditions.

2022 Soil and Sediment Contamination An International Journal 9 citations