Macro- and micro- plastics in soil-plant system: Effects of plastic mulch film residues on wheat (Triticum aestivum) growth

Qi, Yueling; Yang, Xiaomei; Pelaez, Amalia Mejia; Lwanga, Esperanza Huerta; Bériot, Nicolas; Gertsen, Henny; Garbeva, Paolina; Geissen, Violette

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.229

Cited by 828 publications

(413 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Atuanya, Aborisade, and Nwogu () found that a 2.50% w/w treatment of polyethylene granules reduced the height of maize plants by 22%. Similarly, Qi et al () found that biomass of wheat was reduced by a 1% w/w treatment of different plastics. They also found that the magnitude of the reduction was stronger when microplastics were used instead of macroplastics, and that the effect was stronger for biodegradable plastics than for polyethylene.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The continuous variables measured in plants with and without competition, aboveground biomass, total biomass and root weight ratio, were analysed in linear mixed models (LMMs) with plastic and competition treatments as fixed factors, using the lme function of the 'nlme' package (Pinheiro, Bates, DebRov, & Sarkar, 2018) in R (version 3.5.1; R Core . As the competition treatment had three levels (no, intra-and interspecific competition), we split it into two factors, competitor presence (presence vs. absence of competition) and competition type (intra-vs. interspecific competition).…”

Section: Experiments Testing the Effects Of Epdm Granules On Competimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microplastics are currently found in most aquatic environments (Dris et al, 2015), but have also been reported in flood plain soils (Scheurer & Bigalke, 2018) and other terrestrial environments (Fuller & Gautam, 2016;Zhang & Liu, 2018). While it has been shown that microplastics can be ingested by soil animals, and can be transported by them vertically and horizontally in the soil (Maass, Daphi, Lehmann, & Rillig, 2017;Rillig, Ziersch, & Hempel, 2017), little is known about potential effects of microplastics on growth of the plants that have their roots in contaminated soil (Qi et al, 2018;Rillig et al, 2019;de Souza Machado et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A microplastic used as infill material in artificial sport turfs reduces plant growth

Kleunen

Brumer

Gutbrod

et al. 2019

Plants People Planet

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Societal Impact Statement Plastic pollution is of increasing societal concern, particularly with regard to aquatic environments, where it has received widespread news media attention. However, plastic and plastic byproducts also pollute terrestrial ecosystems, and the potential impacts on organisms are currently poorly understood. Here, we show that a microplastic type used in artificial sport turfs may have negative effects on plant growth. Given the scale of plastic pollution, urgent research is needed to determine the impact of microplastics on terrestrial organisms and their communities, as well as an exploration of alternative, biodegradable materials and measures to reduce the spread of microplastics in nature. Summary The Anthropocene is, among other factors, characterized by the accumulation of plastic in the environment. While studies on the consequences of plastic pollution for animals, particularly in aquatic environments, have increased in recent years, much less is known about potential effects of plastic pollution on plants in terrestrial environments. Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) is a microplastic used in artificial sport turfs. Here, we tested in two separate experiments the effects of different concentrations of EPDM on the performance of Plantago lanceolata and on competition between seven grassland‐plant species. At very low concentrations of the EPDM granules, growth of P. lanceolata was slightly improved, but at concentrations of 5% and higher there were strong negative effects on survival and growth. These negative effects were found under low and high nutrient conditions, and for all tested species. The EPDM granules also negatively affected the root weight ratio, which indicates that the root system was more strongly affected than the shoot. Due to the strong negative effects on plant growth, the granules also reduced the competitive interactions between plants. Our study shows that it is not only animals in aquatic environments that may be affected by plastic pollution, and that this may also be the case for wild plants in terrestrial ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Experiments Testing the Effects Of Epdm Granules On Competimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A microplastic used as infill material in artificial sport turfs reduces plant growth

Kleunen

Brumer

Gutbrod

et al. 2019

Plants People Planet

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies by Zhu et al [201] and [70] demonstrated that high concentrations of PS (10%) and PE (28-60%) microplastics particle negatively affect and inhibit growth and survival of Enchytraeus crypticus (oligochaeta) and Lumbricus terrestris (earthworm), respectively, in soil. Furthermore, biodegradable microplastics from starchbased biodegradable films in soil (1%) had more effects on earthworm growth than conventional low-density PE films [129]. Zhu et al [203] pointed that this observation is possibly due to the main composition of biodegradable plastics (i.e.…”

Section: Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic–toxic chemical interaction: a review study on quantified levels, mechanism and implication

et al. 2019

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Current problem facing researchers globally is microplastics as well as toxic chemical pollution of the ecosystem. Microplastics carry toxic chemicals in the ecosystem serving as a vector for transport. In this study, a review of the literature has been conducted with the following objectives: (1) to summarize the concentrations of toxic chemicals such heavy metals and hydrophobic organic contaminants sorped on microplastics; (2) to evaluate their spatial distribution regarding adsorbed contaminant; (3) to discuss plausible mechanism by which microplastics adsorp or desorp toxic chemicals in the environment; (4) to discuss implications of their occurrence in air, water and soil media; and (5) to discuss the impact of ingested microplastics to human health. Microplastics are ubiquitous environmental contaminant. Concentrations of sorped toxic chemical varied by location which represents a local problem; industrialized areas (especially areas experiencing crude oil-related activities or have history of crude oil pollution) have higher concentrations than less industrialized areas. Ingestion of microplastics has been demonstrated in a range of marine and soil organisms as well as edible plants, thus possibly contaminating the base of the food web. Potential health effect to human is by particle localization, chemical toxicity and microbial toxins. We conclude by highlighting the gap in knowledge and suggesting key future areas of research for scientists and policymakers.

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“…Microplastics can also influence soil physical characteristics including bulk density and water dynamics (Liu et al, ; Souza Machado et al, ; de Souza Machado, Lau, et al, ), interestingly decreasing overall soil bulk density but increasing density of the rhizosphere (de Souza Machado et al, ). This ‘ecosystem engineering’ may be partly responsible for microplastics’ effects on soil microbial communities (Qian et al, ; de Souza Machado, Lau, et al, ) and plants (Jiang et al, ; Qi et al, ; Rillig, Lehmann, Machado, & Yang, ; de Souza Machado et al, ). Microplastics also affect these organisms directly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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Macro- and micro- plastics in soil-plant system: Effects of plastic mulch film residues on wheat (Triticum aestivum) growth

Cited by 828 publications

References 59 publications

A microplastic used as infill material in artificial sport turfs reduces plant growth

A microplastic used as infill material in artificial sport turfs reduces plant growth

Microplastic–toxic chemical interaction: a review study on quantified levels, mechanism and implication

Towards an ecology of soil microplastics

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