Biodegradable microplastics pose greater risks than conventional microplastics to soil properties, microbial community and plant growth, especially under flooded conditions.
Sci Total Environ
; 931: 172949, 2024 Jun 25.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38703848
ABSTRACT
Biodegradable plastics (bio-plastics) are often viewed as viable option for mitigating plastic pollution. Nevertheless, the information regarding the potential risks of microplastics (MPs) released from bio-plastics in soil, particularly in flooded soils, is lacking. Here, our objective was to investigate the effect of polylactic acid MPs (PLA-MPs) and polyethylene MPs (PE-MPs) on soil properties, microbial community and plant growth under both non-flooded and flooded conditions. Our results demonstrated that PLA-MPs dramatically increased soil labile carbon (C) content and altered its composition and chemodiversity. The enrichment of labile C stimulated microbial N immobilization, resulting in a depletion of soil mineral nitrogen (N). This specialized environment created by PLA-MPs further filtered out specific microbial species, resulting in a low diversity and simplified microbial community. PLA-MPs caused an increase in denitrifiers (Noviherbaspirillum and Clostridium sensu stricto) and a decrease in nitrifiers (Nitrospira, MND1, and Ellin6067), potentially exacerbating the mineral N deficiency. The mineral N deficit caused by PLA-MPs inhibited wheatgrass growth. Conversely, PE-MPs had less effect on soil ecosystems, including soil properties, microbial community and wheatgrass growth. Overall, our study emphasizes that PLA-MPs cause more adverse effect on the ecosystem than PE-MPs in the short term, and that flooded conditions exacerbate and prolong these adverse effects. These results offer valuable insights for evaluating the potential threats of bio-MPs in both uplands and wetlands.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Suelo
/
Microbiología del Suelo
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Contaminantes del Suelo
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Inundaciones
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Microbiota
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Microplásticos
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Total Environ
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
China
Pais de publicación:
Países Bajos