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Interaction of Microplastics and Heavy Metals: Toxicity, Mechanisms, and Environmental Implications

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Microplastics in Terrestrial Environments

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 95))

Abstract

With the wide use of plastic products in all aspects of life, more and more plastic ends up in the environment. Such plastic waste will gradually decompose, break up, and form smaller fragments through a series of physicochemical and biological processes. Among them, plastic fragments with particle size less than 5 mm are defined as microplastics (MPs). MPs have been reported to be widely distributed and to have the potential to adsorb other pollutants. Therefore, it is particularly important to evaluate the toxic effects of MPs in combination with other pollutants like metals. So far, studies on microplastic and metal toxicity have mainly focused on aquatic environments, while their impact on terrestrial ecosystems has been studied to a much lesser extent. In order to help our understanding of the ecological risk of MP on soil ecosystems, this chapter reviewed the interaction of MPs and metals on soil organisms.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41773115, 41571468) and Nanjing University Innovation and Creative Program for PhD candidate (Grant No. CXCY19-61).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Xiaofeng Jiang & Mei Li

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  1. Xiaofeng Jiang
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  2. Mei Li
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Correspondence to Mei Li .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Defu He

  2. Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

    Yongming Luo

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Jiang, X., Li, M. (2020). Interaction of Microplastics and Heavy Metals: Toxicity, Mechanisms, and Environmental Implications. In: He, D., Luo, Y. (eds) Microplastics in Terrestrial Environments. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 95. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2020_460

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