Papers

20 results
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Commentary Tier 3

Editorial: Impact of microplastics on soil health and plant physiology in agricultural ecosystems

This editorial introduces a research collection on microplastic impacts in agricultural soil ecosystems, highlighting how plastic contamination alters soil biogeochemical processes, microbial activity, and plant physiology, and calling for a precautionary approach to plastic use in farming.

2025 Frontiers in Plant Science
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as Emerging Soil Pollutants

This review covers how microplastics enter and accumulate in soils, their effects on soil health, microbial communities, soil fauna, and plant growth, and the implications of widespread soil plastic contamination for ecosystem function.

2024
Commentary Tier 3

Editorial: Microbial response to emerging contaminants in soil and sediment ecosystems

This editorial introduces a research collection on microbial responses to emerging contaminants — including microplastics, antibiotics, and heavy metals — in soil and sediment ecosystems. Researchers highlight the importance of understanding how these contaminants interact to alter microbial community diversity, function, and ecological balance in terrestrial and aquatic environments.

2024 Frontiers in Microbiology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Research on Soil Management and Conservation

Not relevant to microplastics — this is a brief editorial introduction to a journal special issue on soil management and conservation, with no substantive content about microplastic pollution.

2024 Soil Systems 2 citations
Article Tier 2

What Do We Know About the Effects of Microplastics on Soil?

This review examines the effects of microplastics on soil ecosystems, covering how mulching, wastewater irrigation, sludge application, and atmospheric deposition introduce microplastics to soil, where they alter physicochemical properties, affect microbial communities, and carry co-pollutants.

2023 3 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

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

Origin and Effects of Microplastics on Soil Health, Microbial Community and Plants

This review covers the origins, migration pathways, and ecological effects of microplastics in soil ecosystems, synthesizing research on impacts to soil health, microbial communities, plant growth, and trophic transfer through food chains. The authors highlight the relatively limited understanding of soil microplastic ecology compared to aquatic environments.

2024 Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Biosciences
Article Tier 2

Soils in distress: The impacts and ecological risks of (micro)plastic pollution in the terrestrial environment

This review examines how microplastics affect soil ecosystems, including their transport into soils, changes they undergo in the environment, and their interactions with soil organisms. The effects depend heavily on the type, shape, size, and amount of plastic particles present. Understanding these impacts is important because soil contamination with microplastics can affect food production and ultimately human exposure through the food chain.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 93 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances on ecological effects of microplastics on soil environment

This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the ecological effects of microplastics on soil environments. Researchers found that soils serve as major sinks for microplastics, which can alter soil properties, affect plant growth, disrupt soil microbial communities, and interact with other pollutants. The study highlights that terrestrial microplastic pollution may be even more pervasive than aquatic contamination and warrants greater research attention.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 322 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of microplastics in the soil environment

This review summarizes the current state of knowledge about microplastic contamination in soil environments, covering sources, distribution, and effects on soil organisms and ecosystems. The study highlights that while aquatic microplastic research is more advanced, soil contamination poses significant but understudied risks to terrestrial ecosystems and food production.

2021 5 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of microplastics on soil ecosystems: A review

This review examines how microplastics accumulate in soil from sources like sewage sludge, agricultural plastic mulch, and wastewater, and how they affect soil ecosystems. Evidence indicates that microplastics alter soil physical and chemical properties, disrupt microbial communities and enzyme activity, and can harm plant growth and soil organisms. The authors highlight that soil microplastic pollution has received far less research attention compared to aquatic environments, despite its potential consequences for agriculture and food safety.

2024 International Journal of Research in Agronomy 2 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

Microplastic: Evaluating the Impact on Soil-Microbes and Plant System

This review examines how microplastics affect soil microbial communities and plant systems in agricultural settings, documenting impacts on soil health, microbial diversity, and crop physiology. As microplastics accumulate in farmland soils through irrigation, sludge application, and plastic mulches, their effects on the soil ecosystem that underpins food production are a growing concern.

2023 ACS symposium series 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil microplastics: we need to pay more attention

This perspective piece argues that soil microplastics deserve greater research attention, noting that soils may act as major reservoirs for microplastic accumulation with significant but understudied consequences for terrestrial ecosystems and human health.

2022 Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics 5 citations
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
Review Tier 2

Microplastics in plant-microbes-soil system: A review on recent studies

This review examined microplastic interactions within the plant-microbe-soil system, finding that microplastics affect soil physicochemical properties, alter microbial communities, and can be taken up by plants, with implications for food safety and ecosystem health.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 111 citations
Commentary Tier 3

Editorial: Emerging contaminants and aquatic ecosystem health

This editorial introduces a research collection on emerging contaminants and aquatic ecosystem health, highlighting the vulnerability of aquatic systems to pollutants including microplastics and the ecological and human health implications of contamination.

2025 Frontiers in Environmental Science
Article Tier 2

Pay Attention to Research on Microplastic Pollution in Soil for Prevention of Ecological and Food Chain Risks

This review summarizes research on microplastic sources, accumulation, degradation, and ecological effects in agricultural soils, arguing that soil microplastic pollution deserves the same level of attention as marine microplastic pollution. The paper calls for greater investment in understanding how microplastics affect soil organisms, plant health, and food safety in terrestrial food production systems.

2018 Knowledge Repository of Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, CAS (Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research) 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of Microplastics Toward an Ecological Risk in Soil Diversity

This review examines the ecological risks of microplastics in soil environments, discussing their sources, global distribution, mechanisms of entry into soil food webs, effects on microbial communities and soil fauna, biomagnification through trophic levels, and implications for soil ecosystem services and biodiversity.

2022 1 citations