Toxic Impact of Soil Microplastics (PVC) on Two Weeds: Changes in Growth, Phenology and Photosynthesis Efficiency

• Published in: Agronomy (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 5; p. 1219
• Main Authors: Gentili, Rodolfo, Quaglini, Lara, Cardarelli, Elisa, Caronni, Sarah, Montagnani, Chiara, Citterio, Sandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.05.2022
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Biomass; Ecological effects; Efficiency; Experiments; Growth models; Microparticles; Microplastics; Morphology; Phenology; Photosynthesis; Plant growth; Plastic pollution; Polyvinyl chloride; Seeds; Soil investigations; Soil pollution; soil properties; Soils; Species; toxicity; Weeds; wild species; Italy; Europe

Experimental evidence on the bio-ecological effects of microplastics on terrestrial plants is still lacking. In this study, we hypothesized that soil polluted with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microparticles can negatively influence plant traits, photosynthetic efficiency and phenology of two weeds but...