Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Impacts of microplastics on terrestrial plants: A critical review

This review examines how microplastics affect land-based plants, finding that they can alter soil structure, disrupt beneficial soil microbes, and reduce plant growth. Microplastics also carry toxic chemicals like plasticizers and heavy metals that can be taken up by plant roots and enter the food chain. The findings raise concerns about human health since contaminated crops could be a hidden source of microplastic and chemical exposure in our diets.

2024 Land Degradation and Development 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Influencing mechanisms of microplastics existence on soil heavy metals accumulated by plants

This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics in soil affect the uptake of heavy metals by plants. Microplastics can change soil chemistry and microbial communities in ways that alter how much toxic metals plants absorb through their roots. This is concerning for human health because microplastic-contaminated agricultural soil could lead to crops that contain higher levels of dangerous heavy metals.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Accumulation of plastics in terrestrial crop plants and its impact on the plant growth

This review examines how small plastic particles accumulate in crop plants and affect plant growth, finding that microplastics can enter plant tissues and disrupt physiological processes. Crops grown in microplastic-contaminated soil could carry plastic particles into the food supply, raising concerns about dietary exposure.

2021 Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

From Soil to Table: Pathways, Influencing Factors, and Human Health Risks of Micro- and Nanoplastic Uptake by Plants in Terrestrial Ecosystems

This review traces the pathways by which micro- and nanoplastics move from soil into food crops in terrestrial ecosystems. Researchers found that plants absorb these particles through roots and atmospheric deposition, with adverse effects on plant growth and development, raising concerns about food chain contamination and human health risks from consuming affected crops.

2026 Microplastics
Review Tier 2

Microplastics in plant-microbes-soil system: A review on recent studies

This review examined microplastic interactions within the plant-microbe-soil system, finding that microplastics affect soil physicochemical properties, alter microbial communities, and can be taken up by plants, with implications for food safety and ecosystem health.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 111 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics on terrestrial ecosystems: A plant-centric perspective

This review focuses on how microplastics affect plants and soil health in agricultural settings, an area that has received less attention than marine microplastic pollution. The researchers describe how microplastics can alter soil structure, disrupt microbial communities, and enter plant tissues through unique transport mechanisms. The study highlights that agricultural soils are a major sink for microplastics, with potential consequences for food safety and crop productivity.

2024 Environmental Pollution and Management 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Accumulation of Microplastics in Agroecosystems and Its Effects on Terrestrial Plants: A Short Review

This review examines how microplastics accumulate in agricultural ecosystems and affect terrestrial plants, finding evidence of uptake into plant tissues, disruption of germination and growth, and potential entry into the food chain through crops. The authors highlight significant knowledge gaps regarding microplastic sources, pathways, and long-term impacts in agricultural soils.

2023 Current Applied Science and Technology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Research Progress on the Mechanisms of Terrestrial Plant Uptake, Transport, and Growth Inhibition Responses to Micro (nano) Plastics

This review synthesizes current research on how terrestrial plants take up micro- and nanoplastics from contaminated soil, finding that particles can enter through roots, accumulate in plant tissues, block root function, and trigger oxidative damage that stunts growth. These pathways mean that food crops grown in microplastic-contaminated soils could expose humans to plastic particles through the diet, in addition to the harm caused to agricultural productivity.

2024 Preprints.org 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Particulate plastics-plant interaction in soil and its implications: A review

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics in soil interact with plants, including uptake through roots, accumulation in plant tissues, and effects on growth, nutrient absorption, and soil microbial communities. The study highlights that these plastic particles can alter soil structure and chemistry in ways that affect crop development, raising concerns about food safety and agricultural productivity.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 93 citations
Article Tier 2

Uptake, Accumulation, and Ecotoxicological Impacts of Microplastic on Plant Production and Soil Ecosystem

This chapter examined how microplastics are taken up by plants and accumulate in their tissues, documenting ecotoxicological impacts on crop growth, soil health, and food safety—including evidence that secondary microplastics from degrading agricultural plastic films are a major pathway into terrestrial food webs.

2025
Article Tier 2

Micro (nano) plastic pollution: The ecological influence on soil-plant system and human health.

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics affect soil health, plant growth, and food quality, finding that these particles accumulate in plant root systems and can reduce crop yields and alter nutritional content. Since contaminated soil and water are increasingly delivering microplastics to food crops, these findings are directly relevant to agricultural food safety.

2021 The Science of the total environment
Article Tier 2

Plants and microplastics: Growing impacts in the terrestrial environment

This review examines how microplastics affect plant growth and food crops, finding that exposure generally reduces plant size, chlorophyll content, and photosynthesis, though low concentrations can sometimes stimulate root growth. Plants can take up plastic particles smaller than 1 micrometer through their roots and move them to other tissues. These findings raise concerns that microplastics in soil, which can occur at higher levels than in water, could affect the health and nutritional quality of the food crops that people depend on.

2025 Frontiers in Plant Science 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil–plant–microplastic interactions and their ecological impacts for agricultural sustainability

This review examined soil-plant-microplastic interactions and their ecological impacts for agriculture, covering MP uptake by plant roots, effects on soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling, and implications for crop yields and food safety. The authors highlighted key uncertainties remaining about long-term terrestrial MP behavior.

2025 White Rose eTheses Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in soils, plants, and animals: A review of distributions, effects and potential mechanisms

This review covers the distribution and effects of microplastics in soils, plants, and animals, examining how plastic pollution moves through terrestrial ecosystems. Microplastics in soil can alter microbial communities, reduce plant growth, and accumulate in animals that ingest contaminated food or water. The review highlights that land-based microplastic pollution is as serious a concern as ocean contamination and poses direct risks to agriculture and human food safety.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 223 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of Microplastics with Microbial Communities and the Food Web/Plants

This review examines how microplastics interact with soil and water microorganisms and move through food webs and plant systems. Microplastics can disrupt microbial communities that are essential for soil health and nutrient cycling, while also being absorbed by plants and passed along to animals that eat them. These disruptions in natural systems matter for human health because they can affect food safety and the productivity of agricultural ecosystems.

2025 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics interaction with terrestrial plants and their impacts on agriculture

This review summarizes what is known about how microplastics interact with terrestrial plants, including how they are taken up, transported through plant tissues, and affect growth and agricultural productivity. Researchers note that while marine microplastic research is extensive, studies on soil ecosystems and crop impacts remain limited. The study highlights the need for more research on how microplastics in agricultural soils may ultimately affect food safety and human health.

2021 Journal of Environmental Quality 114 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastics in Terrestrial Food Production

This chapter reviews how microplastic pollution -- well-studied in marine ecosystems -- affects terrestrial food production, including soil health, plant uptake, and crop contamination. The authors summarize sources, exposure pathways, and implications for food safety and sustainable agriculture.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Uptake in Vegetables: Sources, Mechanisms, Transport and Food Safety

This review gathered current knowledge on how microplastics enter agricultural soils and get taken up by vegetable crops, which are a major part of the human diet. Researchers found that microplastics can be absorbed through plant roots and transported to edible parts, with uptake influenced by particle size, plastic type, and soil conditions. The study highlights the need for more research on how microplastic contamination in food crops could affect human health and food safety.

2025 Preprints.org 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Absorption of microplastics by terrestrial plants and their ecological risk

This review describes how microplastics enter terrestrial plants through both root systems in soil and leaf surfaces from airborne particles, and how they accumulate within plant tissues. Researchers discuss the direct physical damage from the plastic particles as well as the toxicity of chemical additives like plasticizers and UV stabilizers. The findings raise concerns about food safety, since microplastics absorbed by crop plants could enter human diets through the food chain.

2025 New Contaminants 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in soil—uptake, fate, transport, and effect on the growth of plants

This review examines the mechanisms by which microplastics enter soil through agricultural practices, climate events, and soil organism activity, and summarizes current evidence on plant uptake -- driven primarily by transpiration pull -- and translocation of plastic particles through plant tissues. The authors identify significant knowledge gaps regarding long-term soil microplastic behavior and ecological effects on plant growth and nutritional quality.

2024 Microplastics 1 citations