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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 23, 2025

Isolation of Native Soil Microorganisms with Potential for Breaking Down Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films Used in Agriculture

Isolation of Native Soil Microorganisms with Potential for Breaking Down Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films Used in Agriculture

Published on: May 10, 2013

Biodegradable microplastics aging processes accelerated by returning straw in paddy soil.

Junxia Huang¹, Yanfang Feng², Huifang Xie¹

¹Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.

The Science of the Total Environment

|June 15, 2024

Summary

Straw return in flooded paddy soil accelerates biodegradable polylactic acid microplastic aging. This process increases microplastic hydrophilicity, roughness, and biofilm formation, impacting soil microbial communities and enzymes.

Keywords:

Aging process Biodegradable microplastics Paddy soil Straw return

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Area of Science:

Environmental Science
Soil Science
Polymer Science

Background:

Biodegradable microplastics (MPs) are increasingly found in agricultural soils.
Straw return is a common agricultural practice, but its effect on biodegradable MP aging in paddy soils is unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the aging mechanism of polylactic acid (PLA)-MPs in straw-enriched flooded paddy soil.
To understand how straw return influences PLA-MP characteristics and environmental fate.

Main Methods:

A 180-day microcosm incubation experiment was conducted.
Polylactic acid (PLA)-MPs were incubated in paddy soil with varying straw return rates (0% and 2%).
Physicochemical properties, surface characteristics, and microbial communities of PLA-MPs were analyzed.

Main Results:

2% straw return significantly accelerated PLA-MP aging, increasing chrominance, hydrophilicity, roughness, and biofilm formation.
Straw return altered ester CO group changes in PLA-MPs and affected soil bacterial community composition and enzyme activity (proteinase K).

Conclusions:

Flooded, straw-enriched paddy soil accelerates PLA-MP aging through soil-water chemistry, microbial activity, and enzymatic processes.
This study highlights the overlooked environmental implications of biodegradable MPs in agricultural ecosystems with straw return.