Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The effects of multifactorial stress combination on rice and maize

Researchers studied how combinations of three or more simultaneous low-level stresses, termed multifactorial stress combination, affect commercial rice and maize crops. They found that even when individual stresses like salinity, heat, herbicide exposure, nutrient deficiency, and heavy metal contamination were each too mild to cause harm alone, their combination significantly reduced plant growth and biomass. The study reveals substantial genetic variability in crop responses to these combined stressors, suggesting some varieties may be more resilient than others.

2023 PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics meet invasive plants: Unraveling the ecological hazards to agroecosystems

This study examined how microplastic contamination in soil combines with invasive plant species to affect rice crops. The combination of both stressors caused greater changes in rice metabolism and antioxidant responses than either stressor alone. These findings highlight how microplastic pollution in agricultural soil can interact with other environmental challenges to threaten food safety and crop health.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 70 citations
Article Tier 2

Concurrence of microplastics and heat waves reduces rice yields and disturbs the agroecosystem nitrogen cycle

Researchers found that while microplastics or heat waves alone had mild effects on rice crops, the combination reduced yields by about 32% and significantly lowered grain protein and nutrient content. The dual stress disrupted nitrogen cycling in the soil and shifted nutrient distribution within the plants, reducing photosynthesis. This matters because climate change and plastic pollution are increasing simultaneously in agricultural regions.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-exposure to microplastics and soil pollutants significantly exacerbates toxicity to crops: Insights from a global meta and machine-learning analysis

A large-scale analysis of 68 studies found that when microplastics combine with other soil pollutants, the harm to crops is significantly worse than from the other pollutants alone. Microplastics intensified damage to plant growth, increased oxidative stress, and reduced photosynthesis efficiency. Interestingly, microplastics did reduce the amount of other pollutants that accumulated in the crops, but the overall toxic effects on plant health were still greater.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics and salt single or combined stresses on growth and physiological responses of maize seedlings

Researchers studied how microplastics and salt stress, individually and combined, affect the growth of maize seedlings. They found that combined exposure caused more severe damage than either stressor alone, reducing plant biomass, disrupting photosynthesis, and increasing oxidative damage. The findings are relevant to agricultural regions where plastic mulch films break down into microplastics in salt-affected soils, creating compounding stress on crops.

2025 Physiologia Plantarum 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactive impacts of heat stress and microplastics contamination on the growth and biochemical response of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and maize (Zea mays) plants

Researchers investigated how heat stress combined with polyethylene microplastic contamination in soil affects wheat and maize growth. They found that the combination significantly reduced plant height, root length, leaf area, and chlorophyll content more than either stressor alone. The findings highlight that microplastic pollution in agricultural soils could worsen the damage already caused by rising temperatures to food crops.

2025 Ecotoxicology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

The effect of soil microplastics on Oryza sativa L. root growth traits under alien plant invasion

Researchers studied how microplastics in soil interact with an invasive weed species to affect rice root growth. Both stressors individually harmed rice roots, but their combination produced complex interactive effects that altered root architecture and nutrient uptake. This suggests that microplastic pollution in farmland may compound the damage caused by invasive plants, creating compounding threats to crop productivity.

2023 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyvinyl chloride microplastics and drought co-exposure alter rice growth by affecting metabolomics and proteomics

Researchers investigated how PVC microplastics combined with drought stress affect rice growth using advanced protein and metabolite analysis. They found that both stressors individually harmed rice development, but together they caused even greater damage to plant metabolism and growth. The study reveals that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils may worsen the effects of drought on crop production.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis revealed the toxicity mechanism of individual or combined of microplastic and salt stress on maize

Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics combined with salt stress affect maize seedlings, finding that the combination reduced plant growth by nearly 74%, far worse than either stressor alone. Gene and metabolite analysis revealed that the combined stress severely disrupted energy production, antioxidant defenses, and hormone signaling in the plants. This is relevant to food security because microplastic-contaminated agricultural soils with high salt levels could dramatically reduce crop yields.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrating microplastic research in sustainable agriculture: Challenges and future directions for food production

Researchers reviewed how microplastics interact with environmental stressors like heat, drought, and salinity to threaten crop health and food safety, finding that microplastics can increase toxic metal uptake in plants and alter growth — with risks likely to worsen as climate change intensifies.

2025 Current Plant Biology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined Inhibitory Effect of Canada Goldenrod Invasion and Soil Microplastics on Rice Growth

Researchers found that the combination of invasive Canada goldenrod plants and soil microplastics reduced rice biomass and disrupted antioxidant enzyme activity more severely than either stressor alone, suggesting that microplastic pollution can amplify the agricultural harm caused by invasive plant species.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Phenotypic and transcriptomic shifts in roots and leaves of rice under the joint stress from microplastic and arsenic

This study examined how rice plants respond when exposed to both microplastics and heavy metal cadmium at the same time. Researchers found that the combination caused distinct changes in root and leaf gene expression and growth patterns compared to either pollutant alone. The findings suggest that microplastics may alter how plants take up and respond to heavy metals, potentially affecting crop safety.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of combined salt and microplastic stress on the microbiota structure of the rice–oriental armyworm system

Researchers studied how salt stress and polyethylene microplastic contamination together affect rice plants and the insects that feed on them. They found that while individual stressors reduced insect weight, the combined stress surprisingly allowed partial recovery, suggesting complex interactions between the two environmental factors. The study reveals that co-occurring stresses from salt and microplastics reshape microbial communities in both plants and insects in unexpected ways.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 2 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

The effect of microplastic pollution on rice growth, paddy soil properties, and greenhouse gas emissions: A global meta-analysis

This global meta-analysis of 40 studies found that microplastics reduce rice biomass by inducing oxidative stress and inhibiting photosynthesis, while depleting soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon. Microplastics also stimulate nitrous oxide emissions from paddy soils, posing a dual threat to food security and climate through impaired rice production and increased greenhouse gas output.

2025 Environmental Research 1 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Meta-analysis reveals the combined effects of microplastics and heavy metal on plants

A meta-analysis of 57 studies found that the combined toxicity of microplastics and heavy metals on plants is driven primarily by the heavy metals, while microplastics mainly interact by inducing oxidative stress damage. Microplastic biodegradation emerged as a core factor influencing heavy metal accumulation in plants, with culture environment, heavy metal type, exposure duration, and microplastic concentration and size all playing roles.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of combined microplastics and heavy metals pollution on terrestrial plants and rhizosphere environment: A review

This review summarizes how microplastics and heavy metals interact in soil to affect plant growth and the surrounding ecosystem. When present together, these pollutants cause significantly more harm than either alone, reducing plant weight by up to 87.5% and altering how heavy metals accumulate in crops -- raising concerns about food safety and human exposure through contaminated agricultural products.

2024 Chemosphere 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Looking into the effects of co-contamination by micro(nano)plastics in the presence of other pollutants on irrigated edible plants

This review examines the combined effects of micro- and nanoplastics with other pollutants found in treated wastewater used for crop irrigation. Researchers analyzed 19 studies and found that the joint exposure to plastics and contaminants like heavy metals or pesticides often produced different toxicity outcomes than either pollutant alone. The findings suggest that using reclaimed wastewater for irrigation may expose food crops to complex mixtures of pollutants whose combined effects are still poorly understood.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of nano/microplastics and associated toxic pollutants in paddy ecosystems: Current knowledge and future perspectives

Researchers reviewed how micro- and nanoplastics enter rice paddies through irrigation, mulch films, and atmospheric deposition, then harm soil health and rice plant growth by disrupting nutrient cycles and increasing oxidative stress. Their findings are especially significant because rice feeds more than half the world's population, yet research on plastic contamination in paddy systems remains very limited.

2024 Earth Critical Zone 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Multi‐Omics Insights Into Phenylpropanoid and Lipid Barrier Biosynthesis in Maize Roots Under Salt and Microplastic Stresses

Researchers used transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to investigate how polystyrene microplastics and salt stress — individually and in combination — affect phenylpropanoid and lipid barrier biosynthesis in maize seedling roots, finding that combined stresses alter molecular defence pathways in ways distinct from either stressor alone.

2025 Physiologia Plantarum
Article Tier 2

Assessing the interactive effects of microplastics and acid rain on cadmium toxicity in rice seedlings: Insights from physiological and transcriptomic analyses

Researchers studied how the combination of microplastics, acid rain, and cadmium affects rice seedling growth. They found that at high cadmium concentrations, the presence of microplastics and acid rain actually reduced cadmium's toxic effects by lowering how much of the metal accumulated in the plants. The study provides nuanced evidence that interactions between multiple environmental pollutants can sometimes produce unexpected outcomes, which matters for understanding food safety in contaminated agricultural areas.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined pollution of soil by heavy metals, microplastics, and pesticides: Mechanisms and anthropogenic drivers

This study investigated how heavy metals, microplastics, and pesticides interact when they contaminate soil together, finding that their combined effects are complex and often worse than any single pollutant. Microplastics can absorb and concentrate both heavy metals and pesticides, changing how these chemicals move through soil and into plants. The findings highlight how agricultural soils contaminated with multiple pollutants could increase human exposure through crops grown in that soil.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 80 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Combined Stress of High Density Polyethylene Microplastics and Chlorimuron-ethyl on Soybean Growth and Rhizosphere Bacterial Community].

Researchers studied the effects of combined stress from high-density polyethylene microplastics and the herbicide chlorimuron-ethyl on soybean growth and physiology. The study found that co-exposure created more severe adverse effects than either pollutant alone, raising concerns about combined plastic and pesticide pollution in agricultural soils.

2024 PubMed 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Stress Effect Induced by Microplastics Coupled with Acid Rain, on Garden Cress, During Short and Long Time: Two Exposures in Comparison

Researchers grew garden cress plants in soil contaminated with four types of microplastics and also exposed them to simulated acid rain, finding that combined exposure caused more plant damage than either stress alone. Both short- and long-term exposures were tested, with longer exposure causing more severe effects. The study shows that microplastic contamination interacts with other environmental stressors like acid rain to worsen damage to terrestrial plants.

2021 Annals of Agricultural & Crop Sciences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv.) to the coexistence of micro-/nanoplastics and phthalate esters alters its growth environment

Researchers studied how wheat responds to co-existing stressors of microplastics and another soil contaminant, finding that combined exposure altered plant growth, physiological parameters, and grain quality compared to single-stressor exposures. The results highlight the importance of testing contaminant mixtures in agricultural soils.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations