Plant leaves absorb microplastics – and they end in our food
New evidence suggests that plant leaves absorb airborn microplastics, for particles to enter the already unseen route crops which are implications for ecology and human health.
Plants can absorb plastic particles directly from the air.
Ruben Bonila Gonzalo/Getty Images
Plastic production is increasing rapidly. This has expressed concern about the effects of microplastic (usually defined as smaller plastic particles from 5 millimeters of diameter) and nanoplastic (small plastic particles that are less than 1,000 nanometers in diameter) are on human health. These concerns are partially affected by the dangerous conclusions of the presence of microplastics in various human tissues, including the brain and placenta. Continuous research is examining the routes of human risk for microplastics through food sources. Most attention is focused on soil and water that occurs in the form of common sources of plastic entering the food chain. However, Write NatureTook Atte ALProvide strong evidence supporting air as having a major passage for plastic to enter plastic.
Plants can absorb plastic particles directly from the air. Particles in the air can enter the leaves through various routes, such as stomata through the structures on the leaf surface and through the cuticle. There are small openings made of stomata cells, and the cuticle is a membrane covered in insoluble wax, which is well suited to absorb microplastics.
Once inside the leaf (image 1), the microplastic plants run through the spaces between the cells of the plant and can also accumulate inside the small hair -like structures called trikoms on the surface of the leaves. Microplastics can also travel to plant water and nutrient transport system (vascular bundle) and can enter from there and reach other tissues from there. Tricomes are ‘sinks’ for external particles and therefore they reduce the efficiency of microplastic transport from leaves to roots. Given that the leaves are an important part of the food chain, microplastic particles that accumulate here can easily pass vegetarian and crop leaves, both can be consumed directly by humans.
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Microplastics can also travel in plant water and nutrient transport systems (vascular bundles). From there, microplastic can reach other tissues.
The study of Lee and colleagues suggests that the absorption and accumulation of atmospheric microplastics by plant leaves is widely in the environment, the concentration of these particles correspond to their concentrations in the air on sample sites in the plants. The authors report that the concentrations of microplastics polyethylene terefthelets and polystyrene were 10–100 times more in open-air vegetables compared to the greenhouse-gro vegetables. The exterior leaves of leaves and vegetables with a period of long growth have more microplastic concentrations than young leaves and internal leaves. Microplastic concentration in plants increased with the period of exposure to these particles.
Although the acute efficiency of the leaves of microplastics is extremely low (about 0.05%), Li and the findings of colleagues provide evidence from the fieldwork of the accumulation of atmospheric microplastics in the leaves. It is difficult to assess the importance of this airbourne exposure for microplastics in plants as compared to other uptake routes, as information available on microplastic uptake through soil and water is rare. Took Et alTianjin, report concentrations of polystyarine nanoplastics of about 7-10 nanograms of dry plant weight for latecuce leaves after outdoor exposure in China.
In the case of exposure to microplastics in water, the plastic concentrations found in plants by aerial statement could only be obtained before the air statement, which was highlighted in the water, highlighting the lateral roots for Polysterine Nanoplastics in the water, at a high level in the form of 5 mg plastic per liter of water at the explosion level. Another study, exposed to the plant for microplastics in water, said that there was no plant of these plastics with water entering the waste water treatment site. In the experiments of soil cultivation mentioned by Lee and colleagues, the original absorption of polystropoln nanoplings ended in the shoot was less efficient than the absorption of Airbourn Nanoplastics. Lee and colleagues found that the plastic levels that had reached the leaves from the roots were below the weight of the 7-10 nanograms per gram dried plant which is associated with the aerial statement of Nanoplastics. Took Et alReport that microplastics levels in air-intensive plants on highly microplastic-discounted sites increased mostly ten times compared to levels on non-contaminated sites.
Researchers have found that microplastics in the air can enter plants including crops through the outer layer of cuticle and epidermal cells. They can then proceed through the spaces between the cells of the plant, which enter small hair -like structures on the surface of the leaf called trikoms. Alternatively, after entering the leaf, microplastics can move into a system in a system called vascular bundle that transports water and nutrients to the tissues elsewhere in the plant.
These conclusions depict the possible implications of airborne microplastic and nanoplastics leaves and the possible implications of vegetarian and transferred to humans. This highlights a potentially understood path of plastic exposure that may have ecological and health implications. However, major interval scientists have an understanding of various factors that affect the sharp, accumulation and biological effects of microplastics in humans. These knowledge intervals include: its role in determining the structure of the average human diet and the level of risk; Efficiency with which plastic accumulates in the intestine; And to what extent these particles reach the major organs. In addition, there is a major drawback of data at the level of the threshold, on which microplastic and nanoplastics can start having harmful effects on human health.
The combination of these uncertainties severely obstructs efforts to correctly determine the potential risks generated by the airborne microplastics. Without a broad and systematic approach to study the fate and poisoning of plastic, our understanding is incomplete. The current body of knowledge about the environment and physical effects of plastic is filled with interval, with no consistent data available on the plastic of well -defined compositions, sizes, or density.
A conclusion to attract Lee and co-writer’s work is that, although exposure to plastic does not have a widely supported consent on risks for humans, these substances in human food deposition in human food are an exposure path which does not ignore. With the idea of direct risk of humans for air plastic, these concerns can be sufficient to adopt precautionary measures. Although research on long -term health effects of plastic is still ongoing, initial research suggests a potential link of problems with breathing, inflammation and other adverse health results. Given these uncertainty, integrating precautionary approaches – such as reducing plastic use and increasing public awareness – can help reduce potential risks. Active measures can also encourage further scientific investigation into the limits of microplastic exposure and its health implications, ensuring better security for individuals and environment.
This article is reproduced with permission and was first published On April 9, 2025,
