review · Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Microplastics accumulating in soils present an emerging environmental challenge. This review synthesises findings from 62 sites across 17 countries to examine the sources, occurrence, transport, and ecological impacts of microplastics on soil fauna, plants, and microorganisms. Recorded concentrations ranged from zero to roughly 3.5 million particles per kilogram of soil, with polyethylene, polystyrene, and polypropylene being the dominant polymer types identified. The review highlights that small, spherical particles with high polymer density migrate extensively. Key factors governing vertical transport include agricultural activities, specifically ploughing at depths between 10 and 40 centimetres, alongside bioturbation from plant roots and organisms, and leaching that can contaminate groundwater. By clarifying microplastic behavior and reviewing analytical methods, the work provides a benchmark for future strategies addressing soil toxicity.
Microplastic contamination threatens the health of soil fauna, crops, and essential microorganisms, while leaching poses direct risks to groundwater quality. Consolidating global data on how these persistent materials disperse and behave in soil is essential for environmental managers and policymakers seeking to evaluate ecological risks and protect agricultural resources.
This work represents early-stage baseline research rather than an applied product. The compiled findings on analytical techniques, polymer distributions, and migration pathways could be used by environmental testing laboratories, waste management organisations, and remediation researchers to design standardised monitoring protocols and inform future soil treatment solutions.
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Through their accumulation in soils, microplastics have recently become a matter of concern. The aim of this review is to assemble and investigate the recent studies about microplastics in soil by focusing on their sources, occurrence, fate in soil, and analytical methods. The objective is also to clarify and elucidate their potential impacts on soil fauna, plants and microorganisms. In this paper, articles reporting the quantity of microplastics and their characteristics in soil at 62 sites situated across 17 countries were reviewed. The land type, microplastic abundances, types and sizes were compared. We summarized and discussed the sampling and analytical methods used and the variation of microplastic concentration according to their sources. The data showed that microplastic in soil from available global studies ranged from 0 to 3573×10<sup>3</sup> particles kg<sup>-1</sup>, with major dominance of polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene found in 50, 37 and 32 studies, respectively. The data analysis showed the high migration of small particles, spherical shape with high polymer density in the major studies. We also described the mechanisms controlling the vertical transport of microplastics: agricultural activity (plowing: at a depth between 10 cm (very shallow plowing) and 40 cm (deeper soil tillage)), bioturbation by soil organisms and plants, and leaching that can lead to the contamination of the groundwater. This review elucidated the behavior and fate of microplastics within the soil, serving as a reference for upcoming studies aimed at devising solutions to mitigate the toxicity associated with microplastics in soil.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.117332
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