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Surface functionalization and size of polystyrene microplastics concomitantly regulate growth, photosynthesis and anti-oxidant status of Cicer arietinum L.
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Researchers found that both the size and surface functionalization of polystyrene microplastics jointly affected chickpea seedling growth and photosynthesis, with aminated and smaller particles causing greater oxidative stress and growth inhibition, demonstrating that microplastic surface chemistry is a key determinant of phytotoxicity.
Microplastics are a recent entrant in the list of environmental pollutants, exhibiting great diversity owing to different sizes, surface charges, and morphologies. The present study explores the impact of varied size, surface functionalization, and concentration of polystyrene microplastics (PS MP) on plants. For this study, Cicer seedlings were exposed to two different sizes of PS (1 μm and 12 μm) with three different surface functionalization (plain, carboxylated, and aminated) and at three distinct concentrations (10, 50, and 100 mg/L). The growth and photosynthetic parameters (like pigment content, Hill activity, etc.) along with oxidative stress marker (ROS) and anti-oxidant enzyme activities (like Superoxide dismutase, Catalase, and Peroxidase) were assessed. The results incline towards the idea that with increasing concentration of PS, there was a decline in the growth of the seedlings. There was also a dose-dependent increase in oxidative stress due to the suppression of the action of antioxidant enzymes. The effect was more prominent for 12 μm PS, perhaps due to its larger size and adherence to roots resulting in mechanical damage as deduced from MDA levels in the seedlings. Besides, MP with negative surface charge was comparatively less toxic than uncharged or positively charged PS of 1 μm. Overall, it can be concluded that the impact of MP on plants does not rely on individual characteristics of the particles alone, rather it is a concerted result of various determinants like size, charge, and concentration.
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Researchers conducted pot experiments to assess how polystyrene microplastics in different shapes and concentrations affect wheat growth, photosynthesis, and oxidative stress. They found that powder-shaped microplastics caused the most severe reductions in plant height, biomass, and chlorophyll content, especially at higher concentrations. The study suggests that both the shape and concentration of microplastics in soil play important roles in determining their phytotoxic effects on crop plants.
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