Are nanoplastics potentially toxic for plants and rhizobiota? Current knowledge and recommendations

Soil is now becoming a reservoir of plastics in response to global production, use/disposal patterns and low recovery rates. Their degradation is caused by numerous processes, and this degradation leads to the formation and release of plastic nanoparticles, i.e., nanoplastics. The occurrence of nanoplastics in the soil is expected to both directly and indirectly impact its properties and functioning. Nanoplastics may directly impact the physiology and development of living organisms, especially plants, e.g., by modifying their production yield. Nanoplastics can also indirectly modify the physicochemical properties of the soil and, as a result, favour the release of related contaminants (organic or inorganic) and have an impact on soil biota, and therefore have a negative effect on the functioning of rhizospheres. However all these results have to be taken carefully since performed with polymer nano-bead not representative of the nanoplastics observed in the environment. This review highlight thus the current knowledge on the interactions between plants, rhizosphere and nanoplastics, their consequences on plant physiology and development in order to identify gaps and propose scientific recommendations.

Automated summary

Soil is becoming a storage place for plastics due to global production, use/disposal patterns, and low recovery rates. This degradation of plastics leads to the formation and release of plastic nanoparticles, known as nanoplastics. Nanoplastics directly impact the physiology and development of living organisms, particularly plants, and can indirectly modify the physicochemical properties of soil, affecting soil biota and rhizosphere functioning. However, caution should be taken in interpreting these results as the experiments were conducted with polymer nano-beads that may not accurately represent environmental nanoplastics.