An overview of microplastic and nanoplastic pollution in agroecosystems

Ng, Ee Ling; Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta; Eldridge, Simon M.; Johnston, Priscilla; Hu, Hang Wei; Geissen, Violette; Chen, Deli

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.341

Cited by 1,038 publications

(459 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…In accordance with EN 13432 (the European reference standard for the labelling of bioplastic compostability), evaluation of the compostability of bioplastics is done by sieving the tested material in compost and assessing that no more than 10% of the initial weight is retained by a 2 mm sieve (Pagga, 1998;Zhang et al, 2018). In the last decade ever more studies have focused on assessing the large and increasing amount of microplastics present in aquatic environments (Horton et al, 2017b), in seabed or sediments (Horton et al, 2017a), and soil (Ng et al, 2018); despite this, no protocol is yet available to monitor the presence of pieces sized below 2 mm in amendments from organic waste treatments. The presence of microplastics in the environment makes it challenging to extract, enumerate and identify them (Qiu et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodologies to assess biodegradation of bioplastics during aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion: A review

2019

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Bioplastics are emerging on the market as sustainable materials which rise to the challenge to improve the lifecycle of plastics from the perspective of the circular economy. The article aims at providing a critical insight of research studies carried out in the last 20 years on the degradation of bioplastics under aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion conditions. It mainly focuses on the various and different methodologies which have been proposed and developed to monitor the process of biodegradation of several bioplastic materials: CO 2 and CH 4 measurements, mass loss and disintegration degree, spectroscopy, visual analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, across the wide range of studies, the process conditions of the experimental setup, such as temperature, test duration and waste composition, often vary from author to author and in accordance with the international standard followed for the test. The different approaches, in terms of process conditions and monitoring methodologies, are pointed out in the review and highlighted to find significant correlations between the results obtained and the experimental procedures. These observed correlations allow critical considerations to be reached about the efficiency of the methodologies and the influence of the main abiotic factors on the process of biodegradation of bioplastics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodologies to assess biodegradation of bioplastics during aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion: A review

2019

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“…Bacteria isolated from earthworm guts caused a 60% reduction in total microplastic mass in a sterilized soil in just 4 weeks and shifted the particle size distribution downward (Huerta Lwanga et al, ), indicating that biodegradation and fragmentation may be co‐occurring processes. However, microbes may not always colonize and degrade plastics in natural soils with other food resources available (Ng et al, ). Microbes may prefer less energetically expensive carbon sources, and cometabolic degradation of plastic is unlikely to occur to any great extent in field soils (Ng et al, ).…”

Section: Microbial Effects: Colonization and Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…indicating that biodegradation and fragmentation may be co-occurring processes. However, microbes may not always colonize and degrade plastics in natural soils with other food resources available (Ng et al, 2018). Microbes may prefer less energetically expensive carbon sources, and cometabolic degradation of plastic is unlikely to occur to any great extent in field soils (Ng et al, 2018).…”

Section: Crob Ial Effec Ts: Coloniz Ati On and Deg R Adationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Concern over microplastics in the world's soils has grown as recent studies have found them both prevalent and potentially harmful to living organisms (Chae & An, ; He et al, ; Ng et al, ) just as they are in marine environments (Galloway & Lewis, ; Ivar do Sul & Costa, ). Microplastics are defined as plastic particles with diameters under 5 mm (Hidalgo‐Ruz, Gutow, Thompson, & Thiel, ), with particles under 0.1–1 µm in diameter often called nanoplastics (Gigault et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Past reviews on microplastics in soil (Bläsing & Amelung, 2018;Chae & An, 2018;de Souza Machado, Kloas, Zarfl, Hempel, & Rillig, 2018;He et al, 2018;Ng et al, 2018;Zhu et al, 2019), of which there have been many for such a recent field ( Figure 2), have focused primarily on microplastic occurrence and abundance in terrestrial environments, sources of soil microplastics, methods for their extraction and quantification, and their ecotoxicological effects on soil organisms and communities. We chose to focus on the role of ecology in governing the occurrence, distribution and ultimate impacts of microplastics in soil: in other words, on ecological effects on microplastics in addition to those of microplastics.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Towards an ecology of soil microplastics

2019

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Microplastic pollution is a topic of increasing concern for the world's oceans, freshwaters and, most recently, soils. Microplastics have been found in soils across the globe. Like other anthropogenic pollutants, they can negatively affect a range of soil organisms through several mechanisms, though often dependent on particle size, shape and polymer type. However, microplastics are unique among pollutants due to the diversity of ways in which soil organisms may themselves be able to affect their occurrence and distribution and mediate their effects on the rest of the soil food web. In this review, we argue for a more explicitly ecological framing of this novel issue for the soil environment and discuss their potential interactions with soil communities, including microplastic formation via microbial and faunal fragmentation of large plastic debris and organisms such as earthworms placing microplastic particles in unique pedological contexts they could not otherwise reach. Ecological interactions may be crucial for dictating microplastics’ ultimate fate and effect on terrestrial ecosystems. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

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Knowledge Gaps, Future Directions, and the Emergence of Nanoplastics as an Environmental Threat Pollutant

Williams

Bannon

2022

Toxicology of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials in Human, Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems

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An overview of microplastic and nanoplastic pollution in agroecosystems

Cited by 1,038 publications

References 105 publications

Methodologies to assess biodegradation of bioplastics during aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion: A review

Methodologies to assess biodegradation of bioplastics during aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion: A review

Towards an ecology of soil microplastics

Knowledge Gaps, Future Directions, and the Emergence of Nanoplastics as an Environmental Threat Pollutant

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