We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to The individual and combined effects of polystyrene and silver nanoparticles on nitrogen transformation and bacterial communities in an agricultural soil
ClearCo-exposure effects of polystyrene nanoplastics and silver nanoparticles in constructed wetlands: Microbial and macrophyte responses
Researchers co-exposed constructed wetlands to polystyrene nanoplastics and silver nanoparticles and found synergistic disruption of the electron transport chain, impaired ATP production, and altered nitrogen transformation, with combined exposure more toxic than either contaminant alone.
Impacts of the coexistence of polystyrene microplastics and pesticide imidacloprid on soil nitrogen transformations and microbial communities
Researchers investigated the combined effects of polystyrene microplastics and the pesticide imidacloprid on soil nitrogen cycling and microbial communities over 28 days. They found that both pollutants individually and together significantly altered nitrogen transformation processes and shifted microbial community composition. The study suggests that the co-presence of microplastics and pesticides in agricultural soils can create compounding disruptions to essential nutrient cycling.
Effects of different sizes of polystyrene micro(nano)plastics on soil microbial communities.
This study tested how polystyrene micro- and nanoplastic particles of three sizes affect soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling, finding that smaller particles caused greater disruption to nitrogen cycling and microbial activity. The results suggest that as plastics in soil fragment into smaller pieces over time, their impact on soil biology and fertility may worsen.
Nanoplastics alter ecosystem multifunctionality and may increase global warming potential
Researchers evaluated how positively and negatively charged polystyrene nanoplastics affect soil ecosystem functions, including nitrogen removal, greenhouse gas emissions, and microbial communities, with and without earthworms. The study found that nanoplastics significantly altered soil microbial community structure and ecosystem multifunctionality, with positively charged particles having more pronounced effects, and evidence indicating that nanoplastics may increase global warming potential through altered greenhouse gas emissions.
How to safeguard soil health against silver nanoparticles through a microbial functional gene-based approach?
This review examines how silver nanoparticles harm soil health by disrupting the microbial communities that keep soil fertile and functional. While focused on silver nanoparticles rather than microplastics, the research is relevant because both types of particles accumulate in soil and can have overlapping toxic effects on the microorganisms that support food production. The proposed framework for protecting soil health could apply to microplastic contamination as well.
Effects of nanopolystyrene addition on nitrogen fertilizer fate, gaseous loss of N from the soil, and soil microbial community composition
Researchers found that nanopolystyrene particles added to agricultural soil disrupted nitrogen cycling by altering microbial community composition and increasing gaseous nitrogen losses, potentially reducing fertilizer efficiency and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions in agroecosystems.
Comprehensive metagenomic and enzyme activity analysis reveals the negatively influential and potentially toxic mechanism of polystyrene nanoparticles on nitrogen transformation in constructed wetlands
Researchers exposed constructed wetlands to polystyrene nanoparticles and found that even 1–10 mg/L concentrations suppressed denitrification and nitrification enzyme activities, reduced the abundance of nitrogen-cycling microbial genes, and generated oxidative stress in both macrophytes and microorganisms — disrupting the nitrogen transformation essential to wetland water-purification function.
Co-effects of silver nanoparticles and microplastics on nitrifying microorganisms from wastewater treatment plants and their activities
This study investigated how silver nanoparticles and microplastics — two emerging contaminants — together affect the bacteria responsible for removing ammonia in wastewater treatment. High concentrations of silver nanoparticles inhibited ammonia oxidation, and the combination with microplastics altered bacterial community composition, raising concerns about wastewater treatment performance.
Toxic effects on ciliates under nano-/micro-plastics coexist with silver nanoparticles
Researchers tested the combined effects of different-sized plastic particles with silver nanoparticles on marine microorganisms and found that the mixture was more toxic than either pollutant alone. Smaller nanoplastics combined with silver nanoparticles caused the most severe damage, disrupting energy and fat metabolism and causing DNA and protein damage. This study shows how microplastics can amplify the toxicity of other environmental pollutants in marine food chains.
Single and Combined Effects of Phenanthrene and Silver Nanoparticles on Denitrification Processes in Coastal Marine Sediments
Researchers examined the individual and combined effects of phenanthrene (a PAH) and silver nanoparticles on denitrifying microbial communities in sediments, finding that combined exposure produced greater inhibition of denitrification activity than either contaminant alone. The results suggest co-contamination with PAHs and engineered nanoparticles poses compounded risks to nitrogen cycling in aquatic sediments.
Polystyrene microplastics sunlight-induce oxidative dissolution, chemical transformation and toxicity enhancement of silver nanoparticles
Researchers discovered that polystyrene microplastics can induce sunlight-driven oxidative dissolution and chemical transformation of silver nanoparticles, enhancing their toxicity and revealing important implications for how co-occurring pollutants interact in the environment.
Exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics reduces bacterial and fungal biomass in microfabricated soil models
Researchers used micro-engineered soil models to study how polystyrene nanoplastics affect soil bacteria and fungi. They found that nanoplastic exposure reduced both bacterial and fungal biomass, with bacteria showing a linear dose-dependent decline and fungi being affected even at the lowest concentrations. The study suggests that nanoplastic pollution in soil may suppress the microbial communities essential for healthy soil function.
Insights into the interaction of microplastic with silver nanoparticles in natural surface water
Researchers co-exposed three common microplastics — polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene — with silver nanoparticles in natural freshwater and brackish water, finding that their interaction altered the environmental behavior and fate of both contaminants. The results suggest that combined pollution from microplastics and nanomaterials produces effects distinct from either pollutant alone.
Assessing the combined impacts of microplastics and nickel oxide nanomaterials on soybean growth and nitrogen fixation potential
This study tested how polystyrene microplastics and nickel oxide nanoparticles affect soybean growth and nitrogen fixation in soil. Microplastics alone reduced photosynthesis, plant hormones, and the beneficial root bacteria that help plants capture nitrogen from the air. While this is a plant and soil study, it demonstrates how microplastics can disrupt agricultural ecosystems that humans depend on for food production.
Interactions of microplastics with pesticides and anthelminthics mediate undesirable effects on microbial nitrogen cycling in agricultural soils
This study examined how microplastics (LDPE, PBAT, and starch-based) interact with pesticides and veterinary medicines to affect soil microbiota. The co-exposure of MPs with these agricultural chemicals produced undesirable effects on microbial communities beyond those of each contaminant alone.
Nanoplastics intensify metal-induced impacts in freshwater ecosystems
Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics — both bare and carboxylated — intensified metal-induced impairment of leaf litter decomposition by aquatic hyphomycetes in freshwater microcosms, with combined stressor effects observed at environmentally relevant concentrations and amplified at higher exposures.
Polyethylene microplastic and soil nitrogen dynamics: Unraveling the links between functional genes, microbial communities, and transformation processes
Researchers conducted a six-month experiment to understand how polyethylene microplastics in soil affect nitrogen cycling, a process critical for soil fertility and plant nutrition. They found that while total nitrogen levels stayed stable, microplastics significantly altered the forms of nitrogen present by increasing ammonium and nitrate while decreasing dissolved organic nitrogen. The study suggests that microplastics reshape soil microbial communities and their nitrogen-processing activities, potentially disrupting the natural nutrient balance in agricultural soils.
Effects of nano- or microplastic exposure combined with arsenic on soil bacterial, fungal, and protistan communities
Researchers studied the combined and individual effects of arsenic and micro- or nanoplastics on soil bacterial, fungal, and protistan communities. The study found that combined pollution distinctly altered the composition of these microbial communities, with protistan communities being particularly sensitive, indicating that the co-occurrence of plastics and heavy metals in soil may have compounding ecological effects.
The co-presence of polystyrene nanoplastics and ofloxacin demonstrates combined effects on the structure, assembly, and metabolic activities of marine microbial community
Researchers examined the combined effects of polystyrene nanoplastics and the antibiotic ofloxacin on marine microbial communities. They found that the two pollutants together had a greater impact on bacterial community structure and metabolic activity than either one alone. The study suggests that nanoplastics and antibiotics co-occurring in the ocean may work together to disrupt the microorganisms that support marine ecosystem health.
Effects of polystyrene nanoparticles on the microbiota and functional diversity of enzymes in soil
Polystyrene nanoparticles applied to soil at environmentally relevant concentrations caused significant reductions in microbial biomass and disrupted the activity of enzymes critical for nutrient cycling within 28 days. The study provides the first experimental evidence that nanoplastics can act as antimicrobial agents in soil, with potential consequences for soil fertility and ecosystem function.
Divergent responses in microbial metabolic limitations and carbon use efficiency to variably sized polystyrene microplastics in soil
Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics of all sizes disrupted soil microbe metabolism, but the smallest particles (nanoscale, 0.1 micrometers) caused the most stress. Smaller particles were more likely to enter microbial cells directly and reduce the efficiency with which soil microbes process carbon. This matters because soil microbes play a critical role in carbon cycling, and widespread microplastic contamination could affect how soil stores and releases carbon.
Polystyrene nanoparticles regulate microbial stress response and cold adaptation in mainstream anammox process at low temperature
Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics at concentrations above 0.5 mg/L significantly impair nitrogen removal by anammox bacteria (microbes that convert ammonia to nitrogen gas) in wastewater treatment, with nanoplastics inducing oxidative stress, damaging cell membranes, and binding to cold-shock proteins that are critical for low-temperature bacterial performance.
Size dependent impacts of a model microplastic on nitrification induced by interaction with nitrifying bacteria
Researchers found that smaller 50 nm polystyrene particles had a greater inhibitory impact on nitrification than larger 500 nm particles, reducing nitrite utilization rates and disrupting nitrogen cycling more severely. The size-dependent effect suggests nanoplastics pose greater risks to aquatic nitrogen processing than microplastics.
Insights into soil autotrophic ammonium oxidization under microplastics stress: Crossroads of nitrification, comammox, anammox and Feammox
This study found that microplastics in soil disrupted key nitrogen cycling processes carried out by bacteria, including nitrification and other pathways essential for soil fertility. Different types of microplastics had varying effects on the microbial communities responsible for converting nitrogen into forms plants can use. Since nitrogen availability directly affects crop growth, microplastic contamination in agricultural soil could subtly undermine food production.