Source: Earth.com, 3/8/26
'Microplastics are usually discussed as an ocean problem. But they are also building up in farmland soils, and a new scientific review argues that their impact goes beyond physical pollution. A team of researchers led by Jiangsu University focuses on what happens at the microscopic level on the surface of plastic particles, where microbes meet, compete, and trade genes. These interactions, they say, could influence soil fertility, ecosystem recovery, and the long-term sustainability of agriculture...The review’s core idea is simple but unsettling: microplastics are not passive debris. In soil, they may become miniature biological arenas where microbes and viruses reshape each other – and in doing so, reshape the land we depend on for food. The study is published in the journal Agricultural Ecology and Environment.'