Micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) are tiny plastic particles resulting from plastic product degradation. Soil MNPs have been identified as potential influential factors affecting various soil properties and crop biomass...Micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) are tiny plastic particles resulting from plastic product degradation. Soil MNPs have been identified as potential influential factors affecting various soil properties and crop biomass productivity. This mini-review provides a synthesis of recent findings concerning their effects on soil physicochemical properties, microorganisms, organic carbon content, soil nutrients, greenhouse gas emissions, soil fauna, and their impacts on plant ecophysiology, growth, and production. The results indicate that MNPs may markedly impede soil aggregation ability, increase porosity, decrease soil bulk density, enhance water retention capacity, influence soil pH and electrical conductivity, and escalate soil water evaporation. Exposure to MNPs may predominantly induce changes in soil microbial composition, reducing the diversity and complexity of microbial communities and microbial activity while enhancing soil organic carbon stability, influencing soil nutrient dynamics, and stimulating organic carbon decomposition and denitrification processes, leading to elevated soil respiration and methane emissions, and potentially decreasing soil nitrous oxide emission. Additionally, MNPs may adversely affect soil fauna, diminish seed germination rates, promote plant root growth, yet impair plant photosynthetic efficacy and biomass productivity. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the impacts and mechanistic foundations of MNPs. Future research avenues are suggested to further explore the impacts and economic implications.展开更多
Following the advent of the Industrial Revolution, plastic pollution has been a serious environmental issue while micro- and nano-plastics have been a cynosure of researchers’ attention in the twenty-first century. T...Following the advent of the Industrial Revolution, plastic pollution has been a serious environmental issue while micro- and nano-plastics have been a cynosure of researchers’ attention in the twenty-first century. This is due to the improved knowledge of its ecotoxicological effects and the global pushforward towards sustainability. There is a growing concern that the increasing presence of microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in aquatic habitats poses a threat to marine life, and it is predicted that nanoplastics will be just as ubiquitous as macro- and micro-plastics, but far more destructive to living organisms due to their ability to infiltrate cells. Recent research has shown that marine and freshwater biota become entangled with plastic litter, which disrupts the ecosystem. Aquatic creatures are known to absorb and deposit these new pollutants in their digestive systems, as has been documented in several studies. More recent research has also examined their co-occurrence and toxicity with other emerging contaminants, including their prevalence and effects in food, air, and soil. Using articles extracted from a six-year period from Scopus, ACS Publications and Google Scholar, this review explores the origins, fates, occurrence in the food chain, exposure routes, cellular interactions of microplastics and nano-plastics, in addition to the ecotoxicological impacts, analytical methods, and the potential remedies for combating pollution and toxicity. Ultimately, this review is a comprehensive, updated addendum to available reviews on micro- and nano-plastics.展开更多
文摘Micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) are tiny plastic particles resulting from plastic product degradation. Soil MNPs have been identified as potential influential factors affecting various soil properties and crop biomass productivity. This mini-review provides a synthesis of recent findings concerning their effects on soil physicochemical properties, microorganisms, organic carbon content, soil nutrients, greenhouse gas emissions, soil fauna, and their impacts on plant ecophysiology, growth, and production. The results indicate that MNPs may markedly impede soil aggregation ability, increase porosity, decrease soil bulk density, enhance water retention capacity, influence soil pH and electrical conductivity, and escalate soil water evaporation. Exposure to MNPs may predominantly induce changes in soil microbial composition, reducing the diversity and complexity of microbial communities and microbial activity while enhancing soil organic carbon stability, influencing soil nutrient dynamics, and stimulating organic carbon decomposition and denitrification processes, leading to elevated soil respiration and methane emissions, and potentially decreasing soil nitrous oxide emission. Additionally, MNPs may adversely affect soil fauna, diminish seed germination rates, promote plant root growth, yet impair plant photosynthetic efficacy and biomass productivity. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the impacts and mechanistic foundations of MNPs. Future research avenues are suggested to further explore the impacts and economic implications.
文摘Following the advent of the Industrial Revolution, plastic pollution has been a serious environmental issue while micro- and nano-plastics have been a cynosure of researchers’ attention in the twenty-first century. This is due to the improved knowledge of its ecotoxicological effects and the global pushforward towards sustainability. There is a growing concern that the increasing presence of microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in aquatic habitats poses a threat to marine life, and it is predicted that nanoplastics will be just as ubiquitous as macro- and micro-plastics, but far more destructive to living organisms due to their ability to infiltrate cells. Recent research has shown that marine and freshwater biota become entangled with plastic litter, which disrupts the ecosystem. Aquatic creatures are known to absorb and deposit these new pollutants in their digestive systems, as has been documented in several studies. More recent research has also examined their co-occurrence and toxicity with other emerging contaminants, including their prevalence and effects in food, air, and soil. Using articles extracted from a six-year period from Scopus, ACS Publications and Google Scholar, this review explores the origins, fates, occurrence in the food chain, exposure routes, cellular interactions of microplastics and nano-plastics, in addition to the ecotoxicological impacts, analytical methods, and the potential remedies for combating pollution and toxicity. Ultimately, this review is a comprehensive, updated addendum to available reviews on micro- and nano-plastics.
