Study Suggests Microplastics in Water Have Found Trapped in Plant Leaf Axils

Microplastics have made their way into practically every ecosystem in the world, even though they have only been there for a short time.

They have been found in the soil, rivers, food, bottled water, and even the human body.

For the first time, researchers discovered microplastics in water trapped in plant leaf axils.

Katarna Fogaová, Peter Manko, and Jozef Obona of the University of Preov, Slovakia, first traveled to Eastern Slovakia to investigate the creatures that live in the little water puddles that occur in teasel leaf axils.

Dipsacus teasels have distinctive opposing leaves that grow on the stem above one other on multiple levels.

Microplastics from water trapped on plant leaves

(Photo : Lakeisha Bennett/Unsplash)

Telmata is cup-like structures that gather water when they grip the stem, as per ScienceDaily.

Teasel phytotelmata are a very widespread yet underappreciated aquatic microcosm that appears for just three to four months.

Surprisingly, they discovered varied colored bits and strands, some of which reached 2.4 mm in length and were classified as microplastics.

"These phytotelmata are very tiny and have a brief lifespan," the researchers wrote in their report, which was published in BioRisk.

There were no additional sources of pollutants detected in the study region, thus the shards and fibers most likely originated from contaminated air, they propose; another idea is that snails transferred them from the soil or other plants in or on their bodies.

According to the researchers, the presence of microplastics in small short-term water reservoirs generated by plants is more proof that pollution of this type spreads through numerous channels and that no habitat on Earth is secure, which makes their discovery rather discouraging.

The results of the new study of teasel phytotelmata, on the other hand, as a very unusual and highly specific natural environment, offer many possibilities for use in researching the Spatio-temporal characteristics of microplastic pollution spread and its potential impact on the plants themselves, as well as organisms bound to them by ecological relationships.

Teasel phytotelmata, they argue, might be a suitable indication of microplastic presence due to their abundance and their capacity to acquire microplastics in a variety of ways from the environment.

As a result, the publication not only contains the first discovery of microplastic pollution in this type of habitat, but also the first proposition of an innovative methodology for the use of teasel phytotelmata and similar micro-ecosystems provided by plants (or artificially created) as bioindicators of the presence of microplastics in the environment potential sources and channels of their spread through the environment, and Spatio-temporal modifications in microplastic contamination.

Also Read: Robotic Fish That Sucks Microplastics from Waters Could Address Earth's Growing Microplastic Pollution

Root causes of microplastics in plants

Scientists have been working hard over the last decade to understand the effects of microplastics, as per PNNL.

Microplastics are piling up as a result of the breakdown of plastic bottles, the washing of the world's seven billion fleece coats, and the microbeads in facial cleansers.

It's uncertain how they affect living things like plants.

Plastics have the potential to produce chemical issues in the soil. Contaminants, like a magnetic attraction, can bond to plastics, resulting in harmful buildup.

Contaminants can also travel freely on plastics and potentially enter plants.

But first, scientists must determine if microplastics, or their much smaller progeny known as nano plastics, can enter plant cells in the first place.

Microplastics are a worldwide problem.

Particles have been discovered in every part of the globe, from isolated mountain peaks to ocean depths.

Over the previous decade, the majority of microplastic research has focused on aquatic habitats, which is paradoxical given that more microplastics have been discovered on land.

To comprehend the problems with nano- and microplastics in plants, researchers must first understand what's going on at the chemical and cellular levels, according to study co-author Carolyn Pearce, a geochemist at PNNL with a dual appointment in WSU's Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.

Microplastics, like a hazardous Trojan horse, can function as hot spots for contaminant transfer.

They attach to and collect soil pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

PCBs have been linked to cancer; their manufacture was prohibited in 1970, but they remain in the environment.

Not all microplastics are the same. They can range in size from a pencil eraser to a microbe. Nanoplastics are 100 times smaller than plant cells in size.

It's easy to envision plants absorbing plastic particles at that size, but there are size limits to what can pass through cell walls.