A research team led by Prof. Nathanael JIN Ling, Member of the Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) and the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), and Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Health Technology and Informatics, has shed light on the often-overlooked microbial threats associated with plastic waste.
Prof. Lin’s research team has developed a global database and model to map the trajectory of the harmful microbiomes carried by plastic debris and to forecast the potential ecological risks. The team combined field-collected samples and publicly available raw data to analyse the microbial communities in the plastisphere and its associated natural environments, covering freshwater, seawater and terrestrial ecosystems. The research found that, in all three environmental systems, microbial communities in the plastisphere differ markedly from those in the natural environment, in terms of both the genera of microorganisms present and their coexistence patterns. These communities consist of fragile networks of specialised microorganisms, which are rarely encountered in nature.
Compared with the microbial communities in natural environments, microorganisms in the plastisphere exhibit a pronounced ability to decompose organic compounds, potentially increasing the release of greenhouse gases and accelerating carbon turnover. The findings also highlight disturbances in the nitrogen cycle caused by the plastisphere, especially in the freshwater ecosystem where bacteria that release harmful substances such as nitrite and nitrous oxide thrive.
In addition, a significant rise in pathogens that pose risks to humans, animals and plants has been spotted in the plastisphere. Notably, some of the pathogen species had not been detected in the corresponding natural environment previously, which indicates the potential of the plastisphere to carry pathogens across ecosystems.
These findings underscore the urgent need to address plastic pollution, as plastics not only pose environmental hazards, but also act as vectors for transmitting microbial diseases that can lead to a cascade of ecological and public health consequences. By prioritising interdisciplinary research and policy action, society can better anticipate and curb the hidden dangers posed by plastic-borne microbiomes. This is a critical step towards safeguarding ecosystems and human health in an increasingly plastic-dependent world.
The research results provide a comprehensive overview of the unique and diverse microbial communities of the plastisphere, and the findings have been published in the international interdisciplinary journal The Innovation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666675823001716).
