Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Do Microplastics and Nanoplastics Pose Risks to Biota in Agricultural Ecosystems?

This review examines the growing presence of micro- and nanoplastics in agricultural soils, estimated at over 0.5 megatons annually. Researchers found that these particles can have varied effects on soil properties, microorganisms, invertebrates, and plants, depending on polymer type, additives, and exposure duration. The study highlights that agricultural soils serve as major reservoirs for plastic pollution and calls for standardized research methods and regulatory guidelines to address the risks to food web safety.

2023 Soil Systems 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil contamination with micro- and nanoplastics: environmental risks, challenges, and consequences for agroecosystems and agriculture

This review examines the mechanisms, distribution pathways, and ecological consequences of micro- and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils, detailing impacts on soil structure, biodiversity, food chains, and crop productivity.

2025 Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science Agrochemistry and Ecology
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in agroecosystems: A review of effects on soil biota and key soil functions

This review examines how microplastic and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils affects soil organisms and ecological functions. Researchers found that plastics enter farmland through multiple pathways including plastic mulch, sewage sludge, and irrigation water, and once present they alter soil properties and exhibit toxic behavior toward soil biota. The study identifies significant knowledge gaps about the long-term impacts of microplastic accumulation on agricultural productivity and food safety.

2022 Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 79 citations
Article Tier 2

The Fate and Risk of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Terrestrial Ecosystems

This research review summarizes what scientists currently know about tiny plastic particles (called micro- and nanoplastics) that contaminate soil and land environments. The study found that while researchers have learned a lot about plastic pollution, there are still major gaps in understanding how these particles move through soil, affect plants and animals, and potentially reach humans through food. This matters because these microscopic plastics could enter our food supply through crops grown in contaminated soil, but scientists don't yet fully understand the health risks.

2026
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics in the soil environment: Analytical methods, occurrence, fate and ecological implications

This review covered analytical methods, occurrence data, environmental fate, and ecotoxicological effects of nanoplastics in soils, finding that nanoplastics can alter soil chemistry, physical structure, and biota in ways that threaten both natural and agricultural ecosystem functions. The authors identify standardization of nanoplastic detection in soil as a critical research gap.

2022 Environmental Pollution 73 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro/Nanoplastics in Agricultural Soils and Associated Hazard

This review surveys the sources, distribution, and hazards of micro- and nanoplastics in agricultural soils, with particular attention to how MPs interact with soil organisms, alter nutrient availability, and accumulate in crops in ways that threaten both soil health and food safety.

2025
Review Tier 2

Formation, behavior, properties and impact of micro- and nanoplastics on agricultural soil ecosystems (A Review)

This review provides a comprehensive look at how micro and nanoplastics affect agricultural soil ecosystems, covering their sources, movement through soil, and impacts on soil organisms and crop growth. The authors found that microplastics can alter soil structure, reduce beneficial microbial activity, and affect plant nutrient uptake. These changes to farmland soils could ultimately threaten food security and introduce microplastics into the human food supply.

2023 NanoImpact 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental fate and impacts of microplastics in soil ecosystems: Progress and perspective

This review summarized knowledge on microplastics in soil environments, covering occurrence across agricultural, industrial, and urban soils, transport pathways, and ecological risks to soil organisms and plant communities. The authors identify key data gaps and methodological challenges that currently limit understanding of microplastic fate and impact in terrestrial systems.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 509 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and nanoplastics in soil: Sources, impacts, and solutions for soil health and environmental sustainability

This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics enter soil through farming activities, sewage sludge, and air deposition, and how they affect soil structure, water retention, and nutrient availability. The tiny plastic particles can harm beneficial soil microorganisms and potentially enter the food chain through crops, raising concerns about long-term impacts on both soil health and human well-being.

2024 Journal of Environmental Quality 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in Terrestrial Ecosystems and Its Interaction with Other Soil Pollutants: A Potential Threat to Soil Ecosystem Sustainability

This review examines microplastic pollution in soils and how plastic particles interact with other pollutants like pesticides and heavy metals. About 80% of all plastic waste produced in the last 75 years has ended up in landfills or the environment, where it breaks into microplastics that alter soil health and contaminate crops. The combined effects of microplastics with other soil pollutants could threaten food safety and ultimately human health.

2023 Resources 83 citations
Article Tier 2

Hazards Associated with Micro/Nano Plastics in Agricultural Soils

This review examines the hazards of micro- and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils, where plastics enter through mulching films, irrigation with contaminated water, and fertilizer application. The authors discuss how these particles can alter soil structure, affect microbial communities, and potentially transfer into crops that humans consume. The study highlights that agricultural soil contamination with microplastics is an underrecognized risk to both ecosystem health and food safety.

2025 1 citations
Review Tier 2

Sources, pollution, and ecological impacts of soil microplastics-A review

A comprehensive review summarized the sources, distribution, and ecological impacts of microplastics in soil environments, synthesizing evidence on how plastics affect soil organisms, structure, and agricultural productivity. The review calls for urgent policy action to address soil microplastic contamination as a threat to food security.

2025 Environmental chemistry and safety 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Tiny toxins, big problems: the hidden threat of microplastic in agroecosystems

This review examines the impacts of microplastic contamination in agricultural soils, covering sources from plastic mulch and irrigation, effects on soil structure, water retention, microbial diversity, and nutrient cycling, and consequences for crop health and food safety.

2025 Plant Science Today
Article Tier 2

Source, migration and toxicology of microplastics in soil

This review compiles research on the sources, movement, and toxic effects of microplastics in soil ecosystems, an area that has received less attention than aquatic pollution. Researchers describe how microplastics enter soil through agricultural practices, wastewater, and atmospheric deposition, then transfer through food chains to affect organisms at multiple levels. The study identifies major knowledge gaps and proposes management strategies to mitigate the ecological and human health risks of soil microplastic contamination.

2020 Environment International 1141 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro and nano-plastics on environmental health: a review on future thrust in agro-ecotoxicology management

This review examines the growing body of evidence on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect plant health, soil microbial communities, and agricultural productivity. The study highlights that plastic accumulation in agricultural soils can alter crop growth and yield while disrupting soil ecosystem dynamics, and calls for greater attention to agro-ecotoxicology management to address these emerging threats to food production.

2025 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanisms and Influencing Factors Making Agricultural Soil as a Sink for Microplastics

This review examines the mechanisms by which agricultural soils act as sinks for microplastics, analyzing how soil properties, land management practices, and MP characteristics determine retention versus transport of plastic particles in the terrestrial environment.

2025
Article Tier 2

Micro Plastic Pollution in Soil Environment: A Comprehensive Review

This comprehensive review covers sources, distribution, degradation pathways, and ecological effects of microplastics in soil environments, highlighting threats to soil fauna, microbiota, and plant growth.

2024 Journal of Scientific Research and Reports 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Behavior of microplastics and plastic film residues in the soil environment: A critical review

This critical review examines the behavior and fate of microplastics in soil environments, particularly in agricultural land where plastic mulch films and biosolid applications have left a legacy of contamination. Researchers note that many soils now contain an estimated 50 to 250 kilograms of plastic residue per hectare, but the difficulty of extracting and measuring plastic particles from soil has limited our understanding of the risks. The study calls for improved methods to assess whether soil-borne microplastics can migrate to groundwater, air, and the human food chain.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 886 citations
Article Tier 2

The Growing Problem of Soil Pollution with Microplastics: a Review

This review examined how microplastic accumulation in soil disrupts physicochemical properties including structure, porosity, and water retention, impairs soil microbial communities, inhibits plant growth, and causes oxidative stress, with agricultural soils identified as especially vulnerable to contamination.

2025
Article Tier 2

Transport and transformation of microplastics and nanoplastics in the soil environment: A critical review

This critical review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics move through and transform within soil environments. Researchers discuss aggregation, sorption of contaminants, interactions with soil organisms, and degradation pathways that affect the fate of plastic particles in terrestrial systems. The study identifies major knowledge gaps in understanding subsurface plastic transport and calls for standardized methods to better assess the ecological and health risks of soil plastic pollution.

2021 Soil Use and Management 88 citations
Article Tier 2

The extent and impacts of soil pollution by microplastics

This study examines the extent and impacts of soil pollution by microplastics, reviewing evidence of how microplastic particles accumulate in terrestrial environments and affect soil ecosystems, organisms, and agricultural systems.

2024 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository
Article Tier 2

A discussion of microplastics in soil and risks for ecosystems and food chains

This review examines how microplastics accumulate in soils through agricultural practices, landfills, and wastewater, posing risks to ecosystems and food chains. Researchers found that while marine microplastic pollution has been well studied, terrestrial contamination remains poorly understood despite soil receiving more plastic waste than oceans. The study highlights how microplastics can alter soil properties, harm soil organisms, and potentially transfer through the food chain to humans.

2022 Chemosphere 109 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and nanoplastics in agriculture—A potential source of soil and groundwater contamination?

Researchers reviewed how microplastics and nanoplastics (tiny plastic fragments) contaminate agricultural soils and can migrate through the soil into groundwater, potentially carrying pesticides and other chemicals with them. They conclude that current analytical tools are inadequate and that plastic fragmentation in soils is a poorly understood but serious threat to drinking water supplies.

2022 Grundwasser 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Tiny pollutants, big consequences: investigating the influence of nano- and microplastics on soil properties and plant health with mitigation strategies

Researchers reviewed the impact of nanoplastics and microplastics on soil properties and plant health, examining absorption and translocation mechanisms in plants. The study suggests that plastic particles alter soil structure and microbial communities, impair plant growth and nutrient uptake, and proposes mitigation strategies to address these emerging threats to agricultural ecosystems.

2025 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 1 citations