Wenjun Wang

Microplastics (MPs) are persistent contaminants widely distributed across aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments. Previous reviews have shown that MPs can carry pollutants and change their environmental behavior, but the field is now broad enough that a simple repetition of sources, adsorption mechanisms, and toxicity would add limited value. This review therefore organizes MPs–pollutant–interactions as a connected chain from sources and environmental pathways to interaction mechanisms, biological effects, and management actions. It summarizes the major MPs input pathways and representative polymer types across water, soil, and air, and then explains how partitioning, surface adsorption, desorption, and pore filling control the binding and release of pollutants. The review further discusses how MPs properties, pollutant characteristics, pollutant mixtures, biofilms/plastisphere, and environmental factors jointly regulate these processes. In addition, it evaluates the consequences of MPs-pollutant coupling for pollutant mobility, bioavailability, biodegradation, bioaccumulation, trophic transfer, ecological toxicity, and human exposure. Finally, the review links these processes with practical management needs, including wastewater treatment, sludge reuse, agricultural plastic control, atmospheric monitoring, environmental education, and long-term risk assessment. By bringing these topics into one framework, this review provides a clearer basis for understanding and managing MPs-associated mixed pollution in environmental systems.

Face masks are widely regarded as essential tools for preventing respiratory infectious diseases, with the incorporation of nanofibers and nanoparticles significantly enhancing their antimicrobial performance. However, the same nanotechnology that strengthens their protective function also introduces complex risks. The extensive use and improper disposal of single-use masks have led to substantial environmental pollution. Discarded masks act as inadvertent conduits, releasing engineered nanomaterials and nanoplastics into wastewater systems through weathering processes. This represents a new and growing source of nanoscale pollution, which may exert cumulative effects on marine organisms and pose potential ecological threats. In light of these concerns, this review systematically assesses the balance between human health benefits and environmental risks associated with nanotechnology-enabled masks in aquatic environments. Furthermore, we explore feasible strategies to address the safety issue, including the development of biodegradable nanomaterials, improved mask designs to reduce emissions, and enhanced end-of-life management. It is crucial to align the application of such advanced masks with a sustainable and acceptable risk–return framework, ensuring that public health advancements do not come at the expense of environmental integrity.

The extensive application of pesticides has ensured consistent high crop yields in agriculture, yet it has presented challenges to soil health. To support the sustainable use of agricultural land, regularly evaluating the health of pesticide-contaminated soil can be beneficial in many cases. The diverse toxic effects of pesticides on earthworms offer various indicators based on earthworms for assessing soil health. Although many factors, such as soil compaction, affect soil health, pesticide contamination is a particularly significant concern in this context. As vital organisms in soil ecosystems, earthworms can be exposed directly to pesticide in the soil and exhibit a range of quantifiable responses, including mortality, reduced biomass, alterations in enzyme activity, abnormal behaviors, and DNA damage. The sub-individual level indicators of earthworms are typically more sensitive than those of individual or population level indicators, enabling them to be quantified even in lower concentrations of pesticides. At present, the key to using earthworms for the health assessment of pesticide-contaminated soil is to establish a consistent and measurable relationship among the pesticide pollution level, local earthworm response indicators, and soil health indicators under similar conditions. This article reviews the research status and potential development of earthworms as ecologically significant and responsive indicators for assessing the health of pesticide-contaminated soil. This review paper is expected to construct a knowledge framework and provide theoretical references for the fields of ecological assessment of pesticide-contaminated soil and sustainable development of modern agriculture with a focus on soil health.