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Microplastics and Nanoplastics Effects on Plant–Pollinator Interaction and Pollination Biology
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This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics affect the relationship between plants and their pollinators, including bees and other insects. The particles can harm pollinator health, alter plant reproduction, and disrupt the chemical signals that attract pollinators to flowers. Since pollination is essential for food production, microplastic interference with this process could have far-reaching consequences for agriculture and ecosystems.
Microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) contamination is an emerging environmental and public health concern, and these particles have been reported both in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Recent studies have expanded our understanding of the adverse effects of MNPs pollution on human, terrestrial, and aquatic animals, insects, and plants. In this perspective, we describe the adverse effects of MNPs particles on pollinator and plant health and discuss the mechanisms by which MNPs disrupt the pollination process. We discuss the evidence and integrate transcriptome studies to investigate the negative effects of MNPs on the molecular biology of pollination, which may cause delay or inhibit the pollination services. We conclude by addressing challenges to plant-pollinator health from MNPs pollution and argue that such harmful effects disrupt the communication between plant and pollinator for a successful pollination process.
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This synthesis examined the largely unstudied effects of nano/microplastic pollution on pollinators and biocontrol agents—organisms that underpin agricultural productivity—finding evidence of gene expression changes, organ damage, and behavioral modifications at the organismal level. At landscape scales, MPs may amplify synergistic effects with pathogens and alter floral resource distributions, with implications for food security that are only beginning to be quantified.
Nano/micro-plastics effects in agricultural landscapes: an overlooked threat to pollination, biological pest control, and food security
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This review synthesized evidence on nano/microplastic (NMP) effects on pollinators and biocontrol agents at organismal, farm, and landscape scales, finding that ingested NMP cause gene expression changes, organ damage, and behavioral modifications. The authors identify NMP-polluted 'NMP islands' as potential hotspots that may alter floral resource distributions and amplify synergistic threats with pathogens and antibiotics to agricultural ecosystem services.
The “Plastic Age”: From Endocrine Disruptors to Microplastics – An Emerging Threat to Pollinators
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This review examines the dual threat that plastics pose to pollinators: endocrine-disrupting chemicals used in plastic manufacturing and the physical presence of micro- and nanoplastics in the environment. Researchers highlight that pollinators like bees are exposed to these contaminants through contaminated flowers, soil, and water. The study calls for more research into how plastic-derived pollution may be contributing to pollinator decline worldwide.
Exploring the risk of microplastics to pollinators: focusing on honey bees
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This review summarizes research on how microplastics affect honey bees, which pollinate about 70% of the food we eat. Microplastics have been found in honey, pollen, beeswax, and bee tissues including the brain and gut, where they can impair behavior, immunity, and gut bacteria. Declining bee populations threaten food production, and microplastic pollution may be one contributing factor.
Pesticides but not microplastics affect pollination in rape seed production in China
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Researchers tested the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides and microplastics, separately and together, on pollination and bee activity in Chinese rapeseed fields. Pesticides significantly reduced bee foraging activity and pollination success, while microplastics alone showed no significant effect, suggesting that agricultural chemical pollution is the dominant driver of pollination service loss in this system.
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