Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Freeze-thaw aged polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics alter enzyme activity and microbial community composition in soil

This study found that when polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics go through freeze-thaw cycles (as they would in cold-climate soils), their surfaces change in ways that alter soil enzyme activity and shift microbial communities. These findings matter because changes in soil microbes can affect nutrient cycling and crop health, with potential downstream effects on human food systems.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Freeze-thaw aging increases the toxicity of microplastics to earthworms and enriches pollutant-degrading microbial genera

This study found that microplastics aged by freeze-thaw cycles, which happen naturally in cold climates, became more toxic to earthworms than fresh microplastics. The aged particles caused more oxidative stress and disrupted the worms' gut bacteria and metabolism. Since earthworms are essential for soil health and agriculture, this increased toxicity could affect the quality of soil used to grow food.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Agri-plastics in soils drive changes in the rhizosphere bacterial community and plant transcriptome in Arabidopsis

Researchers grew Arabidopsis thaliana in soils mixed with plastic film residues (≥5 mm at 5% w/w) and examined rhizosphere bacterial communities and plant gene expression. Plastic residues significantly altered rhizobacterial composition without affecting plant growth or flowering, suggesting soil microbiome disruption may precede visible plant effects.

2025 Journal of Experimental Botany
Article Tier 2

Multi-omics analyses reveal the responses of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rhizosphere bacterial community to nano(micro)plastics stress

Researchers used multi-omics analysis to investigate how nano- and microplastics of different types and sizes affect wheat plants and the bacterial communities in their root zone. They found that smaller nanoplastics caused more severe disruptions to plant gene expression and soil microbiome composition than larger microplastics. The study reveals that plastic particle size is a critical factor determining the severity of impacts on agricultural systems.

2024 Journal of Nanobiotechnology 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrated microbiology and metabolomics analysis reveal plastic mulch film residue affects soil microorganisms and their metabolic functions

Researchers used high-throughput gene sequencing combined with metabolomics to study how plastic mulch film residues affect soil microorganisms and their metabolic functions. They found that mulch film residues significantly altered microbial community composition and disrupted key metabolic pathways in the soil. The study reveals that plastic agricultural film left in soil can interfere with the biological processes that keep soil ecosystems healthy.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 235 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Biodegradable Microplastics on Soil andLettuce Health: Rhizosphere Microbiome and Metabolome Responses

Two biodegradable microplastics (PBAT and PHB) were applied to soil and lettuce was grown to assess effects on rhizosphere microbiome composition and plant metabolome, finding that both biodegradable MPs altered soil microbial communities and plant metabolic responses differently.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Microplastic particles alter wheat rhizosphere soil microbial community composition and function

Researchers found that microplastic particles altered wheat rhizosphere soil microbial community composition and function, with different polymer types inducing distinct shifts in bacterial diversity and nutrient cycling processes.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 139 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastic residues from polyurethane films on crop growth: Unraveling insights through transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis

Residual plastic films from coated fertilizers harmed wheat growth by disrupting energy metabolism in roots, with one type reducing plant height by nearly 25%. However, some bio-based polyester films triggered plant defense responses that offset the damage, suggesting that switching to certain biodegradable alternatives could reduce the microplastic-related risks to crop production and food safety.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Freeze-thaw cycles and biodegradable microplastics alter the microbial degradation of atrazine in mollisols

Researchers investigated the combined effects of freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs) and biodegradable PBAT microplastics on microbial degradation of atrazine in Mollisols, finding that FTCs inhibited atrazine biodegradation by an average of 33.69% while microplastics had a much smaller effect of 4.99%. Thawing temperature was identified as the primary driver of shifts in soil microbial community structure that underlie changes in atrazine degradation rates.

2025 Eco-Environment & Health
Article Tier 2

Freeze-thaw aged film-derived polyethylene and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) microplastics differentially regulate the toxicity of acetochlor on maize

Researchers studied how freeze-thaw weathering changes the way agricultural film microplastics interact with herbicide toxicity in maize. They found that weathered biodegradable PBAT microplastics actually reduced herbicide stress more effectively than fresh ones, while weathered polyethylene microplastics became less protective. The study suggests that environmental aging of different plastic types can shift how they influence pesticide impacts on crops.

2026 Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology
Article Tier 2

Living in the plastic age - Different short-term microbial response to microplastics addition to arable soils with contrasting soil organic matter content and farm management legacy

Adding polyethylene or polypropylene microplastics to two agricultural soils did not severely disrupt overall microbial activity or nitrogen cycling, but polypropylene reduced microbial biomass, especially in the organically managed soil. The results suggest that soil management history influences how resilient soil microbiomes are to microplastic contamination.

2020 Environmental Pollution 120 citations
Article Tier 2

Freeze–Thaw Cycles Accelerate Plastic Pollution Invasion in Agriculture: Trojan Horse Effect of Microplastic–Plasticizer Contamination Revealed in Rye via Computational Chemistry and Multiomics

Researchers found that climate change-related freeze-thaw cycles significantly worsen the combined toxicity of the plasticizer DEP and microplastics in rye plants. Freeze-thaw conditions increased microplastic uptake into plants by altering particle surface charge, while DEP bound to key plant proteins and inhibited photosynthesis. The study reveals that microplastics simultaneously acted as carriers for the plasticizer while reshaping root microbiomes to favor pollutant-degrading bacteria.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Multi-omics reveals different impact patterns of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on the crop rhizosphere in a biofertilizer environment

Researchers used advanced multi-omics techniques to compare how conventional polyethylene microplastics and biodegradable plastic microplastics affect the root zone of crops grown with biofertilizer. They found that both types disrupted the soil microbial community, but through different mechanisms, with biodegradable plastics unexpectedly causing more changes to the bacterial community structure. The study suggests that even biodegradable agricultural plastics may interfere with the effectiveness of biofertilizers in soil.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Negative effects of poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) microplastics on Arabidopsis and its root-associated microbiome

Researchers investigated the effects of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) biodegradable microplastics on Arabidopsis thaliana and its root-associated microbiome, finding that PBAT-MPs at tested concentrations in agricultural soil caused negative impacts on plant growth and altered the composition of root-zone microbial communities.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Polymer-specific transformation of microplastics under soil freeze–thaw versus UV aging: Multiscale insights into atrazine interaction mechanisms

Long-term soil incubation experiments showed that different polymer types transform distinctively under real soil conditions, with some plastics fragmenting rapidly while others persist with minimal change. Polymer-specific fate data are essential for accurate risk assessment and regulatory decisions about plastic use in agriculture.

2025 Environmental Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of photoaging on structure and characteristics of biofilms on microplastic in soil: Biomass and microbial community

Scientists studied how sunlight aging changes the way bacteria colonize microplastics in soil, finding that weathered plastics attracted different bacterial communities than fresh plastics. Aged microplastics initially supported less biofilm growth but developed bacteria with greater ability to break down carbon compounds. This research helps explain how microplastics behave differently in real-world soil conditions versus lab settings, which matters for understanding how plastics affect agricultural land and the food grown in it.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Time-dependent effects of microplastics on soil bacteriome

Researchers studied how six common types of microplastics affect soil bacteria over time at realistic contamination levels. The effects were slow to appear due to the chemical stability of plastics, but over time, microplastics altered bacterial community structure and soil functions in ways that differed by plastic type. This matters because changes to soil bacteria can affect nutrient cycling and crop health, with potential downstream effects on food quality.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 87 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics on the microbial community structure of maize rhizosphere soil

Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics from agricultural films affect the microbial communities in crop root zones (rhizosphere), finding shifts in bacterial diversity and function. Disrupting soil microbiomes through microplastic contamination could have downstream effects on soil fertility and crop health.

2021 中国生态农业学报 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of Polystyrene Nanoplastics and Tributyl Phosphate to Rye under Freeze–Thaw Cycles: Implications for Crop Safety and Mechanistic Insights from Transcriptome and Root Microbiome

Researchers exposed rye to combined polystyrene nanoplastics and the plasticizer tributyl phosphate under simulated freeze-thaw cycles, finding that cold cycling intensifies oxidative stress and photosynthesis suppression by promoting physicochemical complex formation between pollutants, restructuring root endophytic microbiomes, and activating jasmonic acid and abscisic acid defense signaling pathways.

2026 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in soil–plant systems: impacts on soil health, plant toxicity, and multiomics insights

This review synthesizes current knowledge on how microplastics affect soil health and plant growth in agricultural systems, with insights from advanced omics technologies. Researchers found that microplastics degrade soil structure, disrupt nutrient cycles, alter microbial communities, and can be taken up by plant roots, triggering oxidative stress and impaired growth. The study highlights how transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics are revealing the molecular-level stress responses plants mount against microplastic exposure.

2025 Plant Cell Reports 1 citations