Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Impacts of polyethylene microplastics on bioavailability and toxicity of metals in soil

Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics affect the bioavailability and toxicity of copper and nickel in soil using earthworms as test organisms. They found that adding microplastics to contaminated soil increased the bioavailability of the metals and enhanced their toxic effects on the earthworms. The study suggests that microplastics in soil can worsen heavy metal pollution by making metals more accessible and harmful to soil-dwelling organisms.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 184 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics - Back to Reality: Impact of Pristine and Aged Microplastics in Soil on Earthworm Eisenia fetida under Environmentally Relevant Conditions

Researchers compared the effects of new versus sunlight-aged polyethylene microplastics on earthworms at real-world contamination levels, finding that aged particles caused more harm. The aged microplastics accumulated more in earthworm guts, caused greater tissue damage, and shifted gut bacteria away from beneficial species toward harmful ones. This is significant because most microplastics in the environment have been aged by sunlight, meaning their actual impact on soil health and the food chain may be worse than lab studies using fresh plastics suggest.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of Microplastics on the Bioavailability of (Semi-)Metals in the Soil Earthworm Eisenia fetida

Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics affect the uptake of cadmium and arsenic by earthworms in paddy soil. They found that microplastics altered the soil chemistry in ways that changed how much of these metals the earthworms absorbed, with effects varying by metal type and concentration. The study suggests that microplastics in contaminated agricultural soils can influence how toxic metals move through the food chain.

2025 Agronomy 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of polyethylene-microplastic on environmental behaviors of metals in soil

Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics affect the adsorption, desorption, and bioavailability of heavy metals in soil. They found that adding microplastics altered how metals bind to soil particles and increased the mobility of certain metals like cadmium and lead. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in soils may change the environmental behavior of heavy metals, potentially increasing their availability to plants and soil organisms.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 93 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-exposure to UV-aged microplastics and cadmium induces intestinal toxicity and metabolic responses in earthworms

This study found that UV-aged microplastics (the kind that naturally degrade in sunlight) are more harmful than fresh microplastics when combined with the heavy metal cadmium in soil. Aging changed the microplastics' surface, making them better at absorbing cadmium and delivering it to earthworms, causing more gut damage and metabolic disruption. This highlights that weathered microplastics in the real environment may pose greater risks than lab studies using new plastic particles suggest.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 60 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics stress on soil physicochemical properties mediated by earthworm Eisenia fetida

Researchers exposed earthworms to polyethylene microplastics of two sizes and found that smaller particles (13 micrometers) were more toxic than larger ones (130 micrometers), reducing survival and growth more severely. The microplastics caused oxidative stress in the worms and altered key soil properties including pH and organic carbon content. Since earthworms play a vital role in maintaining healthy soil for agriculture, this damage could affect soil quality and ultimately the food grown in microplastic-contaminated farmland.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Cadmium and copper absorption by Eisenia fetida in the presence of different concentrations of microplastics

Researchers exposed earthworms (Eisenia fetida) to soil containing tire-derived microplastics alongside heavy metals cadmium and copper, finding that the microplastics increased the worms' uptake of both toxic metals. The results suggest that microplastics in soil act as carriers that make heavy metal contamination more bioavailable and dangerous for soil-dwelling organisms.

2023 Journal of Environmental Health Engineering
Article Tier 2

Environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastics from agricultural mulch and cadmium negatively impact earthworms by triggering neurotoxicity and disrupting homeostasis

Researchers exposed earthworms to environmentally realistic levels of microplastics from agricultural mulch film combined with cadmium, a toxic heavy metal. The aged microplastics helped carry more cadmium into the earthworms' bodies, causing nerve damage, gut tissue injury, and disrupted metabolism. This study shows that microplastics in farm soil can make heavy metal contamination worse for soil organisms, with potential knock-on effects for the food chain.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging in soil increases the disturbance of microplastics to the gut microbiota of soil fauna

Researchers compared how fresh versus soil-aged microplastics affect the gut bacteria of small soil-dwelling worms called enchytraeids. They found that microplastics that had aged in soil for several months caused significantly greater disruption to the animals' gut microbiome than fresh particles. The aging process released chemical additives and encouraged biofilm growth on the plastic surfaces, making aged microplastics more biologically active and potentially more harmful to soil organisms.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Altered interactions and joint toxicity between microplastics and zinc induced by activated sludge composting process

Researchers studied how the composting process ages microplastics made of PET, PP, and PE, and how this aging alters their interactions with the heavy metal zinc. They found that composting increased cracks and oxygen-containing groups on the plastic surfaces, enhancing their capacity to adsorb zinc and increasing the combined toxicity to the model organism C. elegans. The study suggests that aged microplastics in compost may increase heavy metal bioavailability when applied to agricultural soils.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Plastic Bag Derived-Microplastics as a Vector for Metal Exposure in Terrestrial Invertebrates

Researchers investigated whether microplastics from degraded plastic bags could serve as carriers of zinc contamination to earthworms in soil. Laboratory tests showed that zinc desorbed more readily from microplastics than from soil under conditions mimicking an earthworm's gut, suggesting increased bioavailability. However, in live earthworm experiments, no significant zinc accumulation or harm was observed, indicating that for well-regulated essential metals the actual ecological risk may be limited.

2017 Environmental Science & Technology 719 citations
Article Tier 2

Polypropylene microplastics affect the distribution and bioavailability of cadmium by changing soil components during soil aging

A 180-day soil aging experiment with polypropylene microplastics at 2-10% concentration showed that microplastics altered the distribution of cadmium between soil particle-associated organic matter, organo-mineral complexes, and mineral fractions. Higher microplastic concentrations shifted cadmium toward more stable organo-mineral associations, reducing its bioavailability over time.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 73 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological effects of microplastics and cadmium on the earthworm Eisenia foetida

Researchers studied the effects of microplastics alone and combined with the heavy metal cadmium on earthworms over 42 days. They found that both exposures reduced growth and increased mortality, with the combined treatment causing the most damage through increased oxidative stress. The study also revealed that microplastics can increase cadmium accumulation in earthworms by up to 161%, suggesting microplastics may worsen heavy metal contamination in soil ecosystems.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 330 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics aggravate the joint toxicity to earthworm Eisenia fetida with cadmium by altering its availability

Researchers exposed earthworms to polyethylene microplastics combined with cadmium and found that co-exposure caused significantly worse effects than either pollutant alone, including increased avoidance behavior, weight loss, and DNA damage. The microplastics increased the bioavailability of cadmium in soil by up to 1.43-fold and boosted cadmium accumulation in earthworm tissue by up to 2.65-fold. The study demonstrates that microplastics can worsen heavy metal toxicity to soil organisms by making the metals more accessible for uptake.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 166 citations
Article Tier 2

Virgin and Photoaged Polyethylene Microplastics Have Different Effects on Collembola and Enchytraeids

Researchers compared how virgin and UV-aged polyethylene microplastics affect two types of small soil organisms at environmentally relevant concentrations. They found contrasting responses between species: one type showed reduced survival but increased reproduction with aged particles, while another showed the opposite pattern. The study highlights that microplastic aging and species differences both matter when assessing the ecological impact of plastic pollution in soils.

2025 Environments 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging Changes theVector Effects of Various Microplasticson the Bioaccumulation of Decabromodiphenyl Ethane in Earthworms

Researchers found that UV aging of polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics changes how they carry the flame retardant DBDPE into earthworm intestines, with aged biodegradable PLA-MPs increasing intestinal bioaccumulation by 15% while aged PE-MPs decreased it by 21%, showing polymer-specific vector effects.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Impacts of microplastics and heavy metals on the earthworm Eisenia fetida and on soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus

Researchers found that co-contamination by polypropylene microplastics and heavy metals (Cu, Cr, Zn) had synergistic adverse effects on earthworms and soil quality, reducing organic carbon and nitrogen levels more than either contaminant alone.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging properties of polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics and their adsorption behavior of Cd(II) and Cr(VI) in aquatic environments

Researchers compared how polyethylene and polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics age in the environment and how that aging affects their ability to absorb heavy metals like cadmium and chromium from water. They found that aging changed the surface chemistry of both plastic types, increasing their capacity to pick up these toxic metals. The findings matter because aged microplastics in the environment may concentrate and transport more pollutants than fresh plastic particles.

2024 Chemosphere 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Study on the Adsorption Behavior and Mechanism of Heavy Metals in Aquatic Environment before and after the Aging of Typical Microplastics

Researchers investigated the adsorption behavior and mechanisms of heavy metals by typical microplastics before and after environmental aging, finding that aging significantly alters microplastics' surface properties and capacity to bind metals such as cadmium and lead in aquatic systems.

2024
Article Tier 2

Alteration potential of Propylene microplastic on soil toxicity: impact of organic matter and aging of microplastics

Researchers examined the combined ecotoxic effects of polypropylene (PP) microplastics, UV-aged PP microplastics, cadmium, nickel, and biosolid amendments on the soil organism Enchytraeus crypticus, finding that aged PP increased metal toxicity compared to virgin PP, while biosolid addition reduced combined metal-microplastic toxicity in reproductive endpoint assays.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)