Plastics have become essential materials in human life for several decades. Meanwhile, the inadvertent spread of plastic debris from the use of many plastic products has raised global environmental concerns. The risk of microplastics in subsurface environment has received little attention because soil is considered to confine microplastics within the matrix. However, the concentration of microplastics in soil unavoidably increased as a result of an increase in plastic production and use. Based on lab experiments, several researches claimed that microplastics possibly penentrate soil layers. Recently, a few researches reported the occurrence of microplastics in groundwater. This study reviewed the recent reports of microplastic occurrences in soil and groundwater, and the modeling studies for simulating transport of microplastics. Additionally, the difficulties and limits in microplastics researches in soil and groundwater are discussed. Finally, several perspectives on microplastic studies in subsurface environment are suggested.

Keywords: Plastic;Microplastics;Soil;Groundwater;Transport;