Uptake and accumulation of microplastics in a cereal plant wheat

Summary

This Chinese-language study confirmed that wheat seedlings growing in sand culture can absorb and transport 0.2 μm polystyrene microspheres, with fluorescence microscopy revealing particle distribution in root vascular tissue and outer cortex cell walls. After 21 days, plastic microspheres were also detected in stem vascular bundles and leaf veins, demonstrating that sub-micron microplastics can translocate from soil into above-ground cereal crop tissues.