Effects of microplastics on the uptake and accumulation of heavy metals in plants: A review

Microplastics (MPs) are a new type of pollutant and a series of ecological and health problems caused by MPs pollution are becoming increasingly serious. Heavy metal contamination of soils has been the focus of concern, and when soils are contaminated with MPs and heavy metals (HMs), they can have adverse effects on soil organisms. In this paper, we mainly summarize the effects of combined contamination with MPs and HMs on soil plants. MPs can promote the migration of HMs in soil and change the properties and microbial communities of soil, thus affecting plants. MPs can also be taken up by plants, causing physiological damage to plants, altering their photosynthesis, antioxidant mechanisms, and root activity mechanisms, affecting their metabolic growth and uptake of HMs. However, there are few studies on the combined contamination of soil with MPs and HMs and the effect of MPs on HMs uptake by plant. Finally, the research directions on the combined contamination of MPs and HMs and the effects of MPs on the uptake of HMs by plants were proposed, which is of guiding significance for the phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils.