Uptake and accumulation of microplastics in an edible plant

Microplastic (MP, 100 nm−5 mm) may present an attributable risk to ecosystem and human health, and its pollution has become a global environmental concern. Despite a wealth of information on the accumulation of MPs in aquatic species, there is no information on the uptake and accumulation of MPs by higher plants. Terrestrial edible plants are directly exposed to MPs when agricultural soil was applied with organic manure, sewage sludge as fertilizer or plastic mulching. In this paper, the uptake of two sizes of polystyrene (PS) microbeads (0.2 and 1.0 μm) and then their distribution and migration in an edible plant lettuce were firstly investigated based on laboratory experiments. We used fluorescent markers to track PS microbeads in plant tissues and found fluorescence to be a sensitive and reliable detection method. Sections from untreated control lettuce showed no autofluorescence. When roots were treated with fluorescently labeled PS microbeads, the microbeads could be identified by its fluorescence. Our main study investigated the uptake of 0.2 μm beads, as few luminescence signals were observed in lettuce roots for 1.0 μm beads in our experiment. We observed that 0.2  μm fluorescent microbeads were extracellularly trapped in the root cap mucilage (which is a highly hydrated polysaccharide) and a “dark green tip” (which was typical of lettuce roots exposed to label PS beads) was usually visible to the naked eye. Confocal images revealed that the PS luminescence signals were mainly located in the vascular system and on the cell walls of the cortex tissue of the roots, indicated that the beads passed through the intercellular space via the apoplastic transport system. Once inside the central cylinder, the 0.2 μm PS beads were transferred from the roots to the stems and leaves via the vascular system following the transpiration stream. We also observed that the PS beads adhered to one another and self-assembled systematically into “grape-like” and “(chain) string-like” clusters in the intercellular space of the root and stem vascular tissue of lettuce plant. In contrast to the root and stem, PS beads were dispersed in the leaf tissue. Here, for the first time we provide evidence of the adherence, uptake, accumulation, and translocation of submicrometer MPs within an edible plant. Our findings highlight the previously underappreciated human exposure pathway to MPs through the consumption of contaminated crops and emphasize the need for new management strategies to control the release of MPs waste products into the terrestrial environment. Ultimately, the potential impacts of low range sized MPs on food safety of crop plants and human health need to be urgently considered.