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A new risk to food security: Co-transport, accumulation, and deterioration of nutritional quality mediated by surface charge of nanoplastics and flame retardants in the soil-crop system.
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Researchers grew rye plants in soil and water containing tiny plastic particles with positive or negative surface charges, combined with a flame retardant chemical. Positively charged particles combined with the flame retardant caused more plant stress, delayed growth, and lower grain weight, fat content, and nutritional quality compared to other treatments.
The pervasive coexistence of nanoplastics (NPs) and organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) in agro-ecosystems poses direct threats to food security and environmental sustainability, yet the underlying synergistic toxicities remain largely unknown. This study explores how surface-charge properties may mediate the combined toxicity of carboxylated (PS-COOH) and aminated (PS-NH2) polystyrene NPs with the OPFR triethyl phosphate (TEP) in rye. Through integrated short-term hydroponics and full-life-cycle soil cultivation coupled with multi-dimensional analyses, we demonstrate that positively charged PS-NH2 exerts significantly greater toxicity than PS-COOH. Mechanistically, our results suggest that TEP may promote the formation of NP-containing complexes via van der Waals-type interactions, potentially serving as a carrier to enhance root uptake and translocation of PS-NH2 into grains. This synergistic-like response triggered severe oxidative stress (H2O2 levels 10-fold higher than control), disrupted metabolic homeostasis, and altered the rhizosphere microbiome, with elevated relative abundances of taxa such as Comamonadaceae under TEP-containing treatments. Transcriptomics revealed specific activation of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and repression of ion transport and energy metabolism pathways. Consequently, the PS-NH2 + TEP co-exposure delayed heading by 22 days, reduced 1000-grain weight by 28.89%, slashed grain crude fat by 55.58%, and increased indigestible fiber by 62.67%. These findings underscore that NP surface charge is a critical determinant of phytotoxicity. The resultant cascade of physiological disruptions may compromise crop yield and nutritional integrity, creating plausible entry points for contaminants into the food chain and ultimately raising concerns for global food security and ecosystem resilience.
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This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics affect soil health, plant growth, and food quality, finding that these particles accumulate in plant root systems and can reduce crop yields and alter nutritional content. Since contaminated soil and water are increasingly delivering microplastics to food crops, these findings are directly relevant to agricultural food safety.
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Combined contamination of nanoplastics and diethyl phthalate compromises nutritional quality and triggers metabolic reprogramming in rye: Implications for food safety
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When tiny plastic particles (nanoplastics) and a common plastic-softening chemical (DEP) contaminate soil together, they don't just harm crops separately — they team up to make things worse, with the chemical actually helping the plastic particles sneak deeper into the plant. In this study, rye grown with both pollutants had less healthy fat, more indigestible fiber, and disrupted nutrient and mineral levels, making it lower quality as food or animal feed. Since plastic pollution is now widespread in farm soils, this research is an early warning that our food crops could be losing nutritional value in ways we haven't been tracking
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