Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Biochar-mediated remediation of low-density polyethylene microplastic-polluted soil-plant systems: Role of phosphorus and protist community responses

Researchers found that adding biochar (a charcoal-like soil additive) to soil contaminated with microplastics helped improve plant growth by restoring phosphorus cycling. The microplastics disrupted soil microbe communities, but biochar treatment shifted these communities in beneficial ways. This suggests biochar could be a practical tool for farming in soils contaminated with plastic pollution.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the potential of biochar for the remediation of microbial communities and element cycling in microplastic-contaminated soil

Scientists found that adding biochar (a charcoal-like material made from plant waste) to soil contaminated with microplastics helped restore healthy microbial communities and nutrient cycling. The biochar reversed negative effects that microplastics had on soil chemistry, including nitrogen and phosphorus availability. This suggests biochar could be a practical tool for repairing farmland damaged by microplastic pollution.

2024 Chemosphere 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined effect of biochar and soil moisture on soil chemical properties and microbial community composition in microplastic‐contaminated agricultural soil

Biochar was applied to microplastic-contaminated agricultural soil under different moisture conditions, with results showing that biochar improved soil chemical properties and shifted microbial communities in ways that partially offset microplastic-induced degradation. The study suggests biochar as a practical soil amendment to mitigate microplastic impacts in farming systems.

2022 Soil Use and Management 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Coexistence of Microplastics and Biochar on the Abundance and Structure of Soil Fungal Communities

Researchers investigated the effects of polypropylene, polyethylene, and PVC microplastics — alone and in combination with biochar — on soil fungal community structure, diversity, and functional prediction in agricultural soil. Microplastics increased overall fungal abundance but reduced diversity indices, with dominant taxa including Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierella, Aspergillus, and Fusarium, and coexistence with biochar amplifying these effects beyond microplastics alone.

2023 Journal of Biobased Materials and Bioenergy 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of different microplastics on the mobilization of soil inorganic phosphorus by exomycorrhizal fungi

Researchers examined how different microplastic types affect soil inorganic phosphorus mobilization, finding that polymer type and particle size influence phosphorus release from soil minerals, with implications for nutrient cycling in plastic-contaminated soils.

2024 Global NEST Journal
Article Tier 2

Phosphorus fertiliser application mitigates the negative effects of microplastic on soil microbes and rice growth

Researchers found that adding phosphorus fertilizer to soil contaminated with microplastics helped counteract the negative effects of the plastics on rice growth and soil microbial communities. The microplastics alone disrupted bacterial interactions and suppressed plant development, but fertilizer application restored much of the lost productivity. The study offers practical guidance for managing agricultural soils in areas affected by microplastic pollution.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Divergent mechanisms of labile phosphorus accumulation in paddy soils under TPU microplastics versus manure-derived hydrochar: roles of dissolved organic matter and bacterial communities

Scientists found that tiny plastic particles and a charcoal-like material called hydrochar can increase the amount of phosphorus available to rice plants in soil by 14-21%. Both materials work by changing the soil's chemistry and the helpful bacteria that live in it, but they do it in different ways. This matters because phosphorus is essential for growing healthy crops, and understanding how plastic pollution affects soil could help farmers maintain productive rice fields.

2026 Carbon Research
Article Tier 2

Phosphate solubilizing fungi enhance insoluble phosphate dissolution via organic acid production: mechanisms and applications

This review explores how certain fungi can dissolve locked-up phosphorus in soil by producing organic acids, making it available for plants to absorb. While not directly about microplastics, the research is relevant because microplastics in soil can alter microbial communities, potentially disrupting these natural phosphorus-recycling processes. Understanding how soil fungi support plant nutrition helps explain the broader consequences of microplastic contamination on food production.

2025 Frontiers in Microbiology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar Mitigates the Negative Effects of Microplastics on Sugarcane Growth by Altering Soil Nutrients and Microbial Community Structure and Function

Microplastic contamination in sugarcane-growing soils in China reduces crop biomass and degrades soil nutrients and microbial diversity. Adding biochar to microplastic-polluted soil helped offset these harms — restoring sugarcane growth, stabilizing soil pH, and improving bacterial community richness. The findings suggest biochar is a practical tool for rehabilitating agricultural land affected by plastic pollution.

2023 Plants 14 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Biochar Application on Physicochemical Properties and Bacterial Communities of Microplastic-contaminated Calcareous Soil].

Researchers conducted a 21-day micro-soil culture experiment to assess the effects of biochar amendment on physicochemical properties and bacterial communities in calcareous soil contaminated with microplastics, using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. Biochar slowed decreases in nitrate nitrogen and Olsen-P in microplastic-contaminated soil and increased the relative abundance of stress-tolerant phyla including Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, and Bacteroidota.

2023 PubMed 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Microplastics and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Soybean Growth and Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions in a sandy-loam

Researchers investigated how microplastics and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi interact to affect soybean growth and greenhouse gas emissions in sandy-loam soil, examining whether fungal colonization can mitigate microplastic-induced stress on plant development.

2025
Article Tier 2

Effects of different concentrations and types of microplastics on bacteria and fungi in alkaline soil

Researchers examined how different types and concentrations of polyethylene, polystyrene, and PVC microplastics affect soil bacteria and fungi in alkaline soil over 310 days, finding that all three stimulated enzyme activities and shifted microbial community abundance patterns.

2021 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 166 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar and organic fertilizer applications enhance soil functional microbial abundance and agroecosystem multifunctionality

A long-term field study found that adding biochar (a charcoal-like material) and organic fertilizer to farm soil significantly boosted beneficial soil microbes involved in nutrient cycling and improved overall ecosystem health by up to 30%. While not directly about microplastics, biochar has been shown in other studies to bind microplastics and reduce their movement through soil, making this approach potentially beneficial for both soil productivity and microplastic mitigation on farms.

2024 Biochar 143 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar alters chemical and microbial properties of microplastic-contaminated soil

Researchers found that biochar amendments improved chemical and microbial properties of microplastic-contaminated soil, with effects varying by biochar type and water conditions, suggesting biochar as a potential remediation tool for plastic-polluted agricultural soils.

2022 Environmental Research 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential Effect of Biochar on Soil Properties, Microbial Activity and Vicia faba Properties Affected by Microplastics Contamination

Researchers found that microplastic contamination significantly altered soil properties and reduced Vicia faba plant growth and microbial activity, while biochar amendment at 2% effectively mitigated these adverse effects.

2023 Agronomy 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Mitigating the detrimental impacts of low- and high-density polyethylene microplastics using a novel microbial consortium on a soil-plant system: Insights and interactions

Researchers tested a novel microbial consortium containing bacterial and fungal strains to mitigate the harmful effects of polyethylene microplastics on soil and sunflower growth. The study found that microplastics altered soil pH, electrical conductivity, and organic carbon levels, but the microbial consortium treatment helped counteract some of these detrimental effects on the soil-plant system.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastic Contamination on Phosphorus Availability, Alkaline Phosphatase Activity, and Polymer Degradation in Soil

Researchers studied how different types of microplastics at various concentrations affect phosphorus availability and enzyme activity in soil. They found that microplastics altered phosphorus cycling both by directly supplying phosphorus in some cases and by changing microbial enzyme function. The study suggests that microplastic contamination could disrupt soil nutrient dynamics important for maintaining agricultural productivity.

2025 Polymers 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Plant-driven strategies for mitigating microplastic pollution in agricultural ecosystems

Researchers review how microplastics damage agricultural soils and crops — disrupting soil structure, starving plants of nutrients, and triggering oxidative stress — and explore plant- and microbe-based strategies like root-associated bacteria and biochar amendments as promising but underexplored tools for cleaning up plastic-contaminated farmland.

2025 Hygiene and Environmental Health Advances
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Influence Phosphate Adsorption in Volcanic Ash Soil

Researchers found that adding polyethylene microplastics to volcanic ash soil slightly increased the soil's ability to hold phosphorus but also made phosphorus easier to wash away, potentially reducing its availability to plants. This suggests microplastic contamination in farmland soils could quietly alter nutrient cycling in ways that affect crop growth.

2025 Journal of soil science and plant nutrition 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Addition of polyester microplastic fibers to soil alters the diversity and abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and affects plant growth and nutrition

Researchers added polyester microplastic fibers to soil microcosms and monitored changes in microbial diversity and abundance over time, finding that fibers altered soil bacterial and fungal community structure at realistic environmental concentrations.

2024 European Journal of Soil Biology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Legacy effect of microplastics on plant–soil feedbacks

Researchers examined the legacy effects of microplastic contamination on plant-soil feedbacks using soil previously conditioned with various microplastic types, finding that residual microplastics altered soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling in ways that affected subsequent plant growth.

2022 Frontiers in Plant Science 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution drives soil bacterial community shifts and alters phosphorus cycling across land use gradients

Researchers conducted a landscape-scale field study across urban, mining, agricultural, and rural land-use types to measure accumulated microplastic levels and their effects on soil bacterial communities and phosphorus cycling. Microplastic contamination shifted bacterial community composition and impaired phosphorus mineralization, with effects scaling with land-use intensity and microplastic abundance.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Effects of micro(nano)plastics on soil nutrient cycling: State of the knowledge.

This review systematically examined how micro- and nano-plastics affect soil nutrient cycling for carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, finding that physical interference with soil structure, alteration of microbial communities, and chemical toxicity collectively disrupt mineralization, nitrification, and phosphorus availability in contaminated soils.

2023 Journal of environmental management
Article Tier 2

Mitigation of microplastic toxicity in soybean by synthetic bacterial community and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi interaction: Altering carbohydrate metabolism, hormonal transduction, and genes associated with lipid and protein metabolism

Researchers found that inoculating soybean plants with a combination of mycorrhizal fungi and beneficial bacteria helped protect them from microplastic-induced stress, improving biomass, seed quality, antioxidant defenses, and hormone balance. The study suggests that soil microbe communities could be harnessed as a sustainable strategy to help crops cope with growing microplastic contamination in agricultural soils.

2024 Plant Stress 4 citations