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

Tianhang Ju; Kai Yang; Lei Chang; Keyi Zhang; Xingyi Wang; Jialin Zhang; Bo Xu; Yuefen Li

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166776

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

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Dec 15:904:166776. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166776. Epub 2023 Sep 4.

Authors

Tianhang Ju¹, Kai Yang², Lei Chang¹, Keyi Zhang¹, Xingyi Wang¹, Jialin Zhang³, Bo Xu¹, Yuefen Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
³ College of Plant Protection, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
⁴ College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, China. Electronic address: yfli@jlu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37666334
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166776

Abstract

Plastic products have become ubiquitous in society, and entered various ecosystems due to the massive scale of production. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has listed microplastics (MPs), which form when plastic remnants degrade, as a global emerging pollutant, and the association between soil pollution and MPs has become a popular research topic. This paper systematically reviews research focusing on MP-related soil pollution from the past 10 years (2012-2022), with the identified papers demonstrating that interactions between MPs and soil aggregates has become a research frontier in the field. The presented research provides evidence that soil aggregates are important storage sites for MPs, and that storage patterns of MPs within soil aggregates are influenced by MP characteristics. In addition, MPs affect the formation, turnover, and stability of soil aggregates through the introduction of fracture points along with diverse physicochemical characteristics such as composition and specific surface area. The current knowledge base includes certain issues and challenges that could be addressed in future research by extending the spatial and temporal scales over which microplastic-soil aggregate interactions are studied, unifying quantitative and qualitative methods, and tracing the fates of MPs in the soil matrix. This review contributes to enriching our understanding of how terrestrial MPs interact with soil aggregates, and whether they pose a risk to soil health.

Keywords: Emerging contaminants; Soil aggregates; Soil aggregates stability; Soil aggregates turnover; Soil microplastics.

Publication types

Review