Biotechnology Remediation and Environmental Behavior of Microplastics in Soils: A Review

Environmental contamination by microplastics (MPs) has aroused a global concern. In particular, it is difficult to remove MPs that remain in the soil once covered by agricultural film. Because of food chain transfer and bioconcentration, MPs and associated pollutants pose hazards to the health of hu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology 2023-12, Vol.261 (1), p.13, Article 13
Main Authors: Feng, Weiying, Deng, Yuxin, Cao, Yingnan, Liu, Jing, Han, Yunping, Liu, Jianguo, Miao, Qingfeng, Yang, Fang, Zhu, Ying, Giesy, John P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioaccumulation
Biodegradation
Biological magnification
Biological treatment
Biotechnology
Chain transfer
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental behavior
Environmental Chemistry
Food chains
Food contamination
Health hazards
Microorganisms
Microplastics
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Plastic debris
Plastic pollution
Pollution
Pollution control
Pollution load
Remediation
Review
Reviews
Soil contamination
Soil pollution
Soil remediation
Soils
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Summary:Environmental contamination by microplastics (MPs) has aroused a global concern. In particular, it is difficult to remove MPs that remain in the soil once covered by agricultural film. Because of food chain transfer and bioconcentration, MPs and associated pollutants pose hazards to the health of humans and the ecosystems. Biodegradation has gradually shown its advantages in the remediation of soil polluted by MPs. Here, we review the global research on MPs pollution in the soil during the last 20 years, especially the distributions of MPs in soils, the mechanisms of the migration and transformation of MPs, and biological treatment technologies of MPs in the soil. This review focuses on (i) analysis of research on soil MPs in the last 20 years, (ii) biodegradation of MPs by microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, fungus), (iii) enzymatic biodegradation of MPs, and (iv) factors affecting microbial and enzymatic degradation of MPs. Besides, future perspectives of research on soil MPs are proposed. We critically point out the existing issues to facilitate the judicious design of biotechnology and to understand the research trend, pollution load reduction, and risk prevention in the field. It is a critical review of the reliability and practicability of biotechnology for soil MPs remediation, which has been a bone of contention in the past years. Graphical Abstract
ISSN:0179-5953
2197-6554
DOI:10.1007/s44169-023-00038-w