Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination in Soils: A Review from Geotechnical Engineering View

Researchers reviewed microplastic contamination in soils from a geotechnical engineering perspective, examining how plastic degradation leads to widespread soil contamination. They identified landfills and various geotechnical applications such as tire chip fills and polystyrene lightweight fills as potential sources of microplastic pollution in soils. The review highlights the need for geotechnical engineers to consider the long-term effects of microplastic contamination on soil properties and groundwater quality.

2021 Polymers 71 citations
Article Tier 2

Geotechnical Implications of Microplastics: A Review of Their Effects on Soil Mechanical Parameters

This review compiled and analyzed findings from previous studies on how microplastics affect soil mechanical parameters — including compressibility, permeability, shear strength, settlement, and slope stability — concluding that microplastic contamination can substantially alter geotechnical soil behavior with implications for engineering and construction.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Geotechnical Implications of Microplastics: A Review of Their Effects on Soil Mechanical Parameters

This review compiled and analyzed findings from previous studies on how microplastics affect soil mechanical parameters — including compressibility, permeability, shear strength, settlement, and slope stability — concluding that microplastic contamination can substantially alter geotechnical soil behavior with implications for engineering and construction.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in soils: an environmental geotechnics perspective

This geotechnical engineering perspective reviewed microplastic contamination in soils and the terrestrial subsurface, examining how MPs alter soil mechanical properties — including shear strength, hydraulic conductivity, and compressibility — and arguing that geotechnical impacts have been underappreciated in environmental assessments.

2021 Environmental Geotechnics 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of low-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and high-density polyethylene micro-plastic contamination on the index and engineering properties of clayey soil- an experimental study

Researchers examined how low-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and high-density polyethylene microplastics affect the index and engineering properties of clayey soil, finding that microplastic contamination alters soil behavior relevant to geotechnical engineering.

2022 Environmental Research 20 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

Impact of microplastic pollution in terrestrial ecosystem on index and engineering properties of sandy soil: An experimental investigation

Researchers tested how different concentrations of three common plastic types affect the physical and engineering properties of sandy soil. They found that increasing microplastic contamination significantly altered soil characteristics including liquid limit, plasticity, compaction, and shear strength. The findings suggest that microplastic pollution in the ground could potentially compromise the structural stability of soil used in construction and land management.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics on strength parameters of clayey, Sandy, silty soil: A comparative assessment

Researchers conducted a comparative study examining how three types of microplastics at different concentrations affect the strength properties of sandy, silty, and clayey soils over a 30-day period. They found that LDPE, HDPE, and PVC contamination at environmentally relevant levels altered key soil properties including moisture content, density, and shear strength. The study highlights that microplastic pollution could compromise soil structural integrity, with implications for construction and geotechnical engineering.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Contaminant containment for sustainable remediation of persistent contaminants in soil and groundwater

This review examines different strategies for containing persistent contaminants in soil and groundwater, including physical barriers, chemical stabilization, and plant-based methods. While focused broadly on contamination cleanup, these containment approaches are relevant to microplastic pollution because they can help prevent plastic particles and the toxic chemicals they carry from spreading through soil and into water supplies.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 152 citations
Article Tier 2

Strain-Dependent Effects of Microplastic Contamination on the Strength and Modulus of Kaolin Clay

When wildfires burn plastic materials near cities, they create tiny plastic particles called microplastics that settle into soil with the ash. Scientists found that when these microplastics mix with clay soil, they change how strong and stiff the soil is, which could affect building foundations and construction safety. This matters because wildfires are becoming more common, potentially making contaminated soil a bigger problem for communities rebuilding after fires.

2026
Article Tier 2

Biochar mitigates microplastic‐induced destabilization of soil organic carbon via molecular recalcitrance and microbial process regulation

Biochar amendments to soil were shown to offset the destabilizing effects that microplastics have on soil aggregate structure. The finding suggests that biochar could be a practical soil amendment to counteract microplastic-driven soil degradation in contaminated agricultural lands.

2025 Functional Ecology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil Microplastic Pollution and its Remediation: An Overview

This overview reviews the scope of microplastic pollution in soils globally, summarizing contamination sources, effects on soil ecosystems, and available remediation strategies including physical, chemical, and biological approaches to address this emerging environmental problem.

2025 Egyptian Journal of Soil Science
Article Tier 2

Role of Biochar and Microbes in Remediation of Microplastics in Soil

This review examines how biochar and soil microbes can be combined to remediate microplastic-contaminated soils, synthesizing evidence for biochar's adsorption capacity and microbial degradation pathways that reduce microplastic persistence and toxicity.

2025 Journal of Innovative Solutions for Eco-Environmental Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastic contamination on the hydraulic, water retention, and desiccation crack properties of a natural clay exposed to leachate

Researchers examined how microplastic contamination affects the physical properties of natural clay soil exposed to landfill leachate. They found that microplastics significantly increased the soil's water permeability, reduced its water retention capacity, and altered desiccation cracking patterns. The findings suggest that microplastic pollution could compromise the integrity of clay barriers used in landfill liners and other engineering applications.

2023 Journal of Environmental Management 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Strength Characteristics of Clay Soil Reinforced with Natural Fibers

Not relevant to microplastics — this study examines the mechanical properties of clay soil reinforced with natural plant fibers for geotechnical engineering applications.

2023 Basrah journal of engineering science 9 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

Microplastics accumulation in agricultural soil: Evidence for the presence, potential effects, extraction, and current bioremediation approaches

This review examines the accumulation of microplastics in agricultural soils from sources like plastic mulching and irrigation, discussing their effects on soil properties and crop growth, along with current bioremediation approaches for removing soil microplastics.

2022 Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Applications of biochar in the remediation of soil microplastic pollution: A review

Researchers reviewed the use of biochar as a tool for remediating microplastic-contaminated soil. The study found that biochar application shows promise for addressing soil microplastic pollution by altering soil properties in ways that can reduce microplastic mobility and mitigate their negative effects on soil structure, plant growth, and biogeochemical cycling.

2025 Soil Science Society of America Journal 1 citations
Review Tier 2

Research advances on microplastics contamination in terrestrial geoenvironment: A review

This review summarizes a decade of research on microplastic contamination in terrestrial environments, including soils, landfills, and groundwater. Microplastics alter soil properties like density, porosity, and water retention, and their chemical additives can cause secondary contamination as they leach out. The review highlights that microplastics in soil can enter groundwater and be carried by wind, creating pathways for these pollutants to reach humans through food crops and drinking water.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastics on Soil Health: Soil-Water Retention, Shrinkage and Holding Properties

A review of research on microplastics in soil found that plastic particles can alter water retention, shrinkage, and structural properties in ways that could reduce agricultural productivity. Because microplastics are as prevalent in soils as in oceans, their terrestrial impacts warrant much greater research attention.

2020 OakTrust (Texas A&M University Libraries) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Paving the way toward soil safety and health: current status, challenges, and potential solutions

This review examines the global threats to soil health from industrial chemical contamination and explores potential solutions including monitoring, advanced remediation technologies, and holistic soil management. While covering soil pollution broadly, it is relevant to microplastics because they are a major and growing soil contaminant that is extremely difficult to remove once introduced. The review emphasizes that preventing pollutants from entering soil is far more effective and less costly than trying to clean up contamination afterward.

2024 Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution and dynamics of microplastics in soils

This doctoral research mapped how microplastics are distributed and transported through soils, examining how soil properties like texture and organic matter influence their accumulation, breakdown, and mobility into groundwater. Because soils are both a major sink and a transfer medium for microplastics, this work helps build the foundation needed for assessing contamination risks to agriculture and drinking water.

2026 Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University)
Article Tier 2

Innovative Solutions for Soil Remediation from Microplastics Pollution

This book chapter surveys innovative remediation approaches for removing microplastics from contaminated soils, covering physical, chemical, and biological methods as well as novel technologies including nanomaterial-based adsorbents and electrochemical systems.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics sequestered in the soil affect the turnover and stability of soil aggregates: A review

This review examines how microplastics trapped in soil affect the structure and stability of soil clumps (aggregates) that are essential for healthy farming. Microplastics create weak points in soil structure and alter its physical and chemical properties, which can reduce soil's ability to hold water and support plant growth. Since healthy soil aggregates are the foundation of productive farmland, microplastic contamination could threaten food production over the long term.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 48 citations