This article was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

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Microplastics act like a “Trojan horse,” delivering pollutants, pesticides, and bacteria through the soil, a five-year multinational research project has found.

The E.U.-funded project, which has so far resulted in 22 peer-reviewed studies , found microplastics in the soil of all 227 agricultural fields it tested across 11 European countries. The researchers said this poses a global threat, with healthy soils essential for life on Earth.

In many cases, this contamination reflected current farming practices as well as historical land use, demonstrating that plastic pollution can persist for many years.

The researchers also found that microplastics could interact with other agricultural stressors such as pesticides and veterinary drugs.

One study in Switzerland found that fields with the highest levels of tire-wear particles also had the highest levels of other toxic chemicals…