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Effects of Polypropylene Microplastics and Copper Contamination on Rice Seedling Growth
Summary
Researchers studied how polypropylene microplastics and copper contamination individually and jointly affect rice seedling growth in hydroponic conditions. The study found that microplastics alone slightly promoted growth, while copper inhibited it, and the combination reduced copper accumulation in seedlings compared to copper alone, suggesting complex interactions between these pollutants in agricultural settings.
This study investigates the effects of polypropylene microplastics (PP-MPs) and copper (Cu), applied individually and in combination, on the growth (root and shoot length, fresh and dry biomass), peroxidase (POD) activity, and Cu accumulation of rice seedlings. A hydroponic experiment was conducted with four treatments: control (CK), PP, Cu, and PP+Cu. Exposure to PP-MPs slightly promoted seedling growth, whereas Cu markedly inhibited growth and induced chlorosis. Compared with Cu alone, co-exposure to PP-MPs and Cu (PP+Cu) partially improved shoot growth and alleviated Cu-induced suppression of shoot POD activity. In contrast, root POD activity showed the strongest reduction under PP+Cu (91.7% decrease), revealing a pronounced root-shoot divergence in antioxidant responses. Moreover, total Cu accumulation in seedlings increased by 12.3% in PP+Cu relative to Cu alone, implying that PP-MPs may influence Cu bioavailability and/or internal partitioning. However, Cu speciation and subcellular distribution were not quantified in this study and should be examined in future work. Overall, PP-MPs may simultaneously enhance Cu uptake while partially mitigating shoot-level toxicity, underscoring the complexity of microplastic-metal co-contamination in rice seedling systems.