Micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) are increasingly recognized as emerging contaminants capable of interacting with co-existing agrochemicals, including pesticides, thereby altering their environmental fate and biological effects. In sericulture, silkworms are particularly vulnerable to combined exposure through contaminated mulberry leaves, which may receive pesticide inputs via direct application, atmospheric drift, and/or environmental deposition. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the role of MNPs as carriers of pesticides and their implications for toxicity and mechanistic responses in silkworms. We summarize major classes of pesticides relevant to sericulture, including organochlorines, organophosphates, neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, anthranilic diamides, guadipyr, plant-derived pesticides, nanopesticides, and insect growth regulators, and discuss their known effects on silkworm development, physiology, and survival. Particular attention is given to the formation of MNPs-pesticide complexes, which may modify pesticide bioavailability, uptake pathways, and toxicity through vector-mediated transport and gut-level interactions. Potential mechanisms underlying combined toxicity, such as oxidative stress, metabolic disruption, intestinal damage, and interference with detoxification systems, are discussed. Research indicates that MNPs typically increase pesticide bioaccumulation and toxicity rather than reduce them. However, the effect’s direction depends on the interplay between particle-facilitated transport and sorption-limited availability, rather than just plastic concentration. MPs and NPs operate through distinct mechanisms, such as luminal retention and epithelial translocation, and therefore should not be grouped into a single exposure category. Finally, critical knowledge gaps are identified, including the lack of environmentally realistic co-exposure studies, limited mechanistic evidence in silkworms, and insufficient understanding of MNPs-pesticide interactions under field-relevant conditions. This review highlights the need for integrated risk assessment frameworks to better evaluate the ecological and sericultural risks posed by MNP-associated pesticide exposure.
In marine systems, carbon is sequestered through both, biological and physical, processes. This study focused on four benthic habitats acting as retentive structures, namely seagrass meadows, subtidal sediments, biogenic reefs and macroalgal forest, in the North and Baltic Seas. In both seas, large-scale losses of seagrass meadows, mussel reefs, and algal forests occurred in the 20th century. Multiple stressors, such as eutrophication, bottom trawling, pollution, overexploitation, and plant disease, led to declines in extensions of the four retentive habitats and thus in carbon sequestration. Major part of the overall retained carbon is buried in subtidal sediments, although only few deep areas, such as the Norwegian Trough, act as effective permanent sinks. Seagrass meadows are efficient in sediment trapping and thus in carbon retention, but due to their small extensions compared to subtidal sediments, their contributions to the overall regional carbon budgets are small. Algal forests are discussed as transient carbon sinks, but contribute to permanent sinks in deep areas by the excretion of fucoidan. Mussel reefs retain organic carbon in forms of faeces and pseudofaeces. Discussion on shell calcification as potential carbon source is ongoing, where it remains unclear whether mussel reefs act as net source or sink of carbon. Knowledge gaps and pronounced variability in carbon retention rates impede the calculation of regional carbon budgets. Bridging knowledge gaps on the role of eutrophication and climate change, and the functioning of carbon retention processes requires harmonized monitoring, as it is under development in Germany.
Invasive plants produce abundant biomass, while featuring strong environmental adaptability and fast growth rates, which endows them with great potential for phytoremediation of soils contaminated by potentially toxic elements (PTEs). Here, the advantages of using invasive plants for PTE-contaminated soil phytoremediation are reviewed. To date, 74 invasive species have been identified as confirmed hyperaccumulators and potential hyperaccumulators, with the others identified as PTE-tolerant plants with high PTE accumulation. The latter group possesses efficient PTE uptake and translocation capacity. Furthermore, invasive plants exhibit an outstanding tolerance to PTE toxicity, and this is attributed to their genetic differentiation, phenotypic plasticity, high competitive capacity, and unique compartmentalization mechanisms. In addition, invasive plant-mediated phytoremediation delivers considerable cost-benefit performance. Nevertheless, the application of invasive plants for PTE-contaminated soil phytoremediation still faces prominent ecological risks and technical bottlenecks, and is also restricted by existing laws and regulations. Feasible management strategies are identified here for the employment of invasive plants in phytoremediation. This review contributes to our growing understanding of PTE-contaminated soil phytoremediation by invasive plants, and it can provide a framework for reducing PTE concentrations in contaminated soils. Nevertheless, the practical application of invasive plants in PTE-contaminated soil phytoremediation is still a major issue that should be addressed in future.
Microplastics (MPs) have emerged as pervasive pollutant, now detected across the globe, including in remote and isolated ecosystems. With rising MP contamination, concerns over their impacts on living systems have intensified. While numerous studies report adverse effects of MPs, comprehensive analytical insights into their toxicity across diverse organisms remain limited. This review systematically evaluates toxicological effects of MPs on aquatic organisms, humans, plants, terrestrial organisms, and microorganisms at the morphological, histological, and molecular levels. Data analysis has revealed that polystyrene is most commonly used MP for toxicity studies. It is observed that nanoplastics remain significantly underexplored, despite evidence suggesting their higher toxic potential due to their smaller size and greater surface reactivity. Existing studies predominantly assess toxicity within concentration range of 0.1–50 000 mg/L and are limited to maximum exposure duration of 84 days, underscoring lack of long-term and chronic exposure investigations. Given that MPs persist in environmental matrices over extended periods, organisms are more likely to experience prolonged exposure. Therefore, short-term experimental studies may not adequately capture the actual ecological and biological impacts of MPs, potentially underestimating their long-term toxicity and environmental risk. In addition to synthesizing toxicity data, this review discusses existing physical, chemical, and biological remediation strategies, with emphasis on emerging sustainable technologies for real-time applications. Further, cost–benefit perspective is also provided, underscoring that timely implementation of MP removal technologies significantly outweighs the health risks associated with continued exposure. Overall, this review identifies key knowledge gaps and outlines future directions toward mitigating the risks posed by MP pollution.
The co-occurrence of heavy metals (HM) and pesticides (PS) in agricultural soils poses a complex remediation challenge that resists single-amendment strategies. Although biochar (BC) has been widely reported as an efficient adsorbent for specific contaminants, increasing evidence suggests that its role in soil remediation extends beyond adsorption. This review advances a conceptual shift by viewing BC as a keystone microhabitat that structures soil microbial communities and mediates plant–microbe interactions within the rhizosphere. We synthesized evidence from recent literature demonstrating that the porous architecture and functionalized surfaces of BC provide protective habitat that reduces the combined toxicity of HM and PS to microbial consortia involved in PS degradation and HM immobilization. Particular emphasis is placed on how BC feedstock selection, pyrolysis conditions, and modification strategies influence rhizosphere microbiome assembly and activity. Building on this evidence, we present an integrated model of BC–microbe–plant synergy in which contaminant bioavailability is reduced, microbial enzymatic activity is enhanced, and root exudation patterns are modified, resulting in a potentially reinforcing remediation process. Beyond descriptive analysis, this review highlights key mechanistic uncertainties at BC–microbe–plant interfaces, including feedback between BC surface redox chemistry and microbial electron transfer pathways. Finally, we outline a translational research framework that supports the rational design of BC-compatible microbial consortia and the application of multi-omics tools to improve predictability, scalability, and long-term efficacy of BC-based remediation systems for co-contaminated soils.
