It all starts with plants sucking up synthetic contaminants from the soil. Next, it is the plants that absorb these nanoplastics from the soil. Then they are consumed by insects eating those greens.
Just like with Heavy metals found in the ocean, it turns out nanoplastics – plastic particles less than one micrometer in size – can also move up the food chain. These particles are primarily the result of bigger plastic pieces being weathered down by natural processes – sometimes by the Animals consume them.
Fazel Monikh, a biologist from the University of Eastern Finland demonstrated the process in a laboratory. She fed tiny 250 nm pieces of polystyrene to lettuce.Lactuca sativa).
After 14 days, the researchers gave that lettuce to black soldier fle larvae (Hermetia illucensThe larvae were then fed to hungry roachfish (Rutilus rutilusAfter 5 more days, the team scanned them again. After the fish had eaten the insects for five days, the team took the tissue and imaged it.Trophy) level.
These particles are very difficult to detect, and can be altered in their physiological journeys. Researchers have enclosed the rare element. gadoliniumTo track them more precisely, the team used tiny plastics. To minimize its biological effects, the team used an SEM (scanning electron microscope) to ensure that the plastic covered the metal completely.
Biomagnification was not observed in these nanoplastics. This is the good news. Biomagnification occurs when chemicals at lower trophic levels are more concentrated as they move up the food chain. This is common with pollutants such as benzene. mercury Polychlorinated Biphenyls.
However, the images showed nanoplastics in liver, gills and intestines as well as in the mouth and guts (of the insects) and in the leaves of lettuce.
The plastics behaved differently throughout the food chain. Because the lettuce contained slightly less polystyrene than the polyvinyl chloride, less plastic flavor was transmitted to it.
Researchers explain that the particle’s size, shape and surface chemistry could have an impact on the life they have. Some earthworms may be more likely than others to reduce polyethylene in soil before it is taken up by plants.
“Our results showed that lettuce can accept nanoplastics from the soil, and then transfer them into the food chain,” “ Monikh. “This suggests that soil containing tiny plastic particles could pose a health risk to humans and herbivores, if the findings can be applied to other crops and plants as well as field settings.”
Today, microplastics and smaller nanoplastics are ubiquitous in all environments, starting from the ocean to the sea. The deepest ocean trenches?, highest mountainsThe, and Remote isolation in Antarctica. They are in the We eat the food that we loveThe water we drinkThe, and air we breathe.
Researchers say microplastics are circulating through our bodies each day. There’s no reason to panicAs there are no immediate effects, it is clear that there are not any short-term or immediate consequences. However, the long-term exposure to high levels of radiation and high levels of concentrations remain a concern.
These tiny particles are dangerous because they could pass through other parts of the body. Barrieres physiologicalThey are smaller than their larger origin particles. Some of them have been shown to cause potential toxicities in Plants, invertebrates?, and vertebrates.
Monikh and his colleagues also demonstrated how plastics attract protein to their surfaces as they travel through different life forms. This is how their impact changes.
Monikh stated that “further research is still needed into the topic.” Ends.
This research was published in Nano Today.
