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Toxic effects of microplastics in plants depend more by their surface functional groups than just accumulation contents
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Researchers studied how differently charged microplastics affect lettuce plants grown in water, finding that all types caused growth problems, root damage, and oxidative stress. Microplastics were able to penetrate roots and travel to above-ground plant parts through the water transport system. Importantly, the study found that the type of chemical groups on the microplastic surface mattered more for toxicity than the total amount of plastic accumulated in the plant.
Differentially charged microplastics (MPs) engendered by plastic aging (e.g., plastic film) widely existed in the agricultural ecosystem, yet minimal was known about the toxic effects of MPs on plants and their absorption and accumulation characteristics. Root absorption largely determined the migration and accumulation risks of MPs in the soil-crop food chain. Here, five types of MPs exposure experiments of leaf lettuce were implemented to simulate root absorption by hydroponics. MPs exposure caused different degrees of growth inhibition, root lignification, root cell apoptosis, and oxidative stress responses; accelerated chlorophyll decomposition and hampered normal electron transfer within the PSII photosystem. Moreover, the uptake of essential elements by roots was inhibited to varying degrees due to the pore blockage in the cell wall and the hetero-aggregation of opposite charges after MPs exposure. MPs exposure observably up-regulated the organic metabolic pathways in roots, thus affecting MPs mobility and absorption through the electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between the root exudations and MPs. Importantly, MPs penetrated the root extracellular cortex into the stele and were transported to the shoots by transpiration through xylem vessels based on confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images. Quantitative analysis of MPs indicated that their toxic effects on plants were determined to a greater extent by the types of surface functional groups than just their accumulation contents, that is, MPs were confirmed edible risks through crop food chain transfer, but bioaccumulation varied by surface functional groups.
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Researchers exposed lettuce leaves to microplastics carrying different electrical charges and found that positively charged particles caused significantly stronger stress responses than negatively charged or neutral ones. The positively charged microplastics accumulated more in leaf tissue and triggered widespread changes in gene expression and metabolic pathways. The study suggests that the surface charge of microplastics is an important factor in determining their toxicity to plants.
Polyethylene microplastic modulates lettuce root exudates and induces oxidative damage under prolonged hydroponic exposure
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Researchers grew lettuce in water containing polyethylene microplastics for 28 days and found that the plastics changed the chemical signals the roots released and caused oxidative damage in the leaves. While the plants looked mostly normal on the outside, the microplastics altered the root chemistry in ways that could affect nutrient uptake and plant defense. This is relevant to human health because lettuce is widely consumed and may be grown in microplastic-contaminated water or soil.
The dosage- and size-dependent effects of micro- and nanoplastics in lettuce roots and leaves at the growth, photosynthetic, and metabolomics levels
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Researchers studied the effects of polyethylene micro- and nanoplastics on lettuce plants, varying both particle size and concentration. They found that particle size played a pivotal role in influencing plant growth, photosynthetic activity, and metabolic processes, with nanoplastics generally causing more pronounced effects than larger microplastics. The study suggests that the smallest plastic particles pose the greatest risk to crop health by disrupting plant physiology at multiple levels.
Microplastic pollution in agriculture: How exposure pathway (Seed, Leaf, Root) dictates phytotoxicity in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)
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This study compared the phytotoxicity of polyethylene microplastics applied to lettuce via seed, leaf, and root exposure pathways, finding that root exposure caused the greatest growth inhibition and oxidative stress. The route of MP exposure significantly influenced the type and severity of toxic effects on crops.
The short-term effect of microplastics in lettuce involves size- and dose-dependent coordinate shaping of root metabolome, exudation profile and rhizomicrobiome
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Researchers exposed lettuce plants to polyethylene plastic particles of four different sizes and concentrations, finding that the plastics altered root chemistry, changed what the roots released into the soil, and shifted the bacteria living around them. The effects depended strongly on particle size, with smaller particles causing different metabolic changes than larger ones. This study shows that microplastics in farm soil can change the biology of food crops from the roots up, potentially affecting both crop health and nutritional quality.
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