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

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2023-12, Vol.904, p.166776-166776, Article 166776
• Main Authors: Ju, Tianhang, Yang, Kai, Chang, Lei, Zhang, Keyi, Wang, Xingyi, Zhang, Jialin, Xu, Bo, Li, Yuefen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Emerging contaminants; environment; microplastics; pollutants; risk; soil; Soil aggregates; Soil aggregates stability; Soil aggregates turnover; Soil microplastics; soil pollution; soil quality; surface area
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166776

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. [Display omitted] •Research focusing on microplastics (MPs) and soil aggregates increased over the last decade.•MPs mainly interact with soil aggregates by influencing fundamental soil properties.•MP-specific characteristics (shape, size, type and composition) affect these interactions.•The prevalence of MPs is influenced by soil organisms and organic carbon in the soil.•Long-term field studies, along with the labelling of MPs, can verify prior empirical results.