Microplastics: Notes on Recycling, Waste, and Environmental Prevalence.
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Microplastics (MPs), industrial byproduct plastic particles less than 5 mm in size [1], have emerged as pervasive environmental pollutants, posing health risks to biological ecosystems through a variety of mechanisms. These mechanisms include uptake pathways in plants, whose contamination affects their physiological processes. While their unapparent size and ubiquitous nature can make microplastics an easy subject to overlook, the long-term potential harm of microplastics on our environment warrants attention.
Currently, approximately 40% of single-use plastics are discarded into land and waterways, whose active processes can further degrade them into micro- and nano-size particles [2]. These microplastics can carry hazardous chemicals that can cause serious health risks such as human cell injury, hormone disruption, and cardiovascular disease. Colloquially known as ‘microplastics’, these debris are highly permeative and traverse through the environment with ease, eventually impacting plant physiology. Through ingestion, their introduction into the bodies of animals, including humans, has also been known to cause cytotoxicity, unnoticed inflammation responses, hormonal disruptions, and more [3]. The resulting damages have included acute organ disease and general disorder of biochemical constitution.
Thus, it is critical to analyze the mechanisms of soil, water, and air dispersal of microplastics and their corresponding assimilation into plants. By studying these mechanics of plant permeation, it becomes possible to devise strategies to eliminate their detriments to the environment and health.
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6. Lalrinfela, P., Vanlalsangi, R., Lalrinzuali, K. and Babu, P.J. (2024). Microplastics: Their Effects on the Environment, Human Health, and Plant Ecosystems. Environmental Pollution and Management. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epm.2024.11.004.
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22. Hasan, M.M., Tarannum, M.N., Rafiqul Bari, G.A.K.M., Swapon, A.R., Kabir, M.S., Ahmmed, S. and Daraj Uddin Prodhan, Md. (2024). Impact of microplastics on terrestrial ecosystems: A plant-centric perspective. Environmental Pollution and Management, [online] 1, pp.223–234. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epm.2024.11.002.
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28. Auta, H.S., Emenike, C.U. and Fauziah, S.H. (2017). Distribution and importance of microplastics in the marine environment: A review of the sources, fate, effects, and potential solutions. Environment International, [online] 102, pp.165–176. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2017.02.013.
29. Cooper, G.M. (2000). Endocytosis. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9831/.
30. Dietrich, D. (2018). Hydrotropism: how roots search for water. Journal of Experimental Botany, [online] 69(11), pp.2759–2771. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ery034.
31. Dris, R., Gasperi, J., Mirande, C., Mandin, C., Guerrouache, M., Langlois, V. and Tassin, B. (2017). A first overview of textile fibers, including microplastics, in indoor and outdoor environments. Environmental Pollution, [online] 221, pp.453–458. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.12.013.
32. Eichert, T. and Goldbach, H.E. (2008). Equivalent pore radii of hydrophilic foliar uptake routes in stomatous and astomatous leaf surfaces – further evidence for a stomatal pathway. Physiologia Plantarum, 132(4), pp.491–502. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3054.2007.01023.x.
33. Fan, W., Qiu, C., Qu, Q., Hu, X., Mu, L., Gao, Z. and Tang, X. (2023). Sources and identification of microplastics in soils. Soil & Environmental Health, [online] 1(2), p.100019. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seh.2023.100019.
34. Grierson, C. and Schiefelbein, J. (2002). Root Hairs. The Arabidopsis Book / American Society of Plant Biologists, [online] 1(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1199/tab.0060.
35. Hasan, M.M., Tarannum, M.N., Rafiqul Bari, G.A.K.M., Swapon, A.R., Kabir, M.S., Ahmmed, S. and Daraj Uddin Prodhan, Md. (2024). Impact of microplastics on terrestrial ecosystems: A plant-centric perspective. Environmental Pollution and Management, [online] 1, pp.223–234. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epm.2024.11.002.
36. Huang, D., Chen, H., Shen, M., Tao, J., Chen, S., Yin, L., Zhou, W., Wang, X., Xiao, R. and Li, R. (2022). Recent advances on the transport of microplastics/nanoplastics in abiotic and biotic compartments. Journal of Hazardous Materials, [online] 438, p.129515. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129515.
37. Hurley, R.R., Lusher, A.L., Olsen, M. and Nizzetto, L. (2018). Validation of a Method for Extracting Microplastics from Complex, Organic-Rich, Environmental Matrices. Environmental Science & Technology, [online] 52(13), pp.7409–7417. doi:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b01517.
38. Lalrinfela, P., Vanlalsangi, R., Lalrinzuali, K. and Babu, P.J. (2024). Microplastics: Their Effects on the Environment, Human Health, and Plant Ecosystems. Environmental Pollution and Management. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epm.2024.11.004.
39. Ma, Z. (2010). Plant Vacuole, Stomata | Learn Science at Scitable. [online] Nature.com. Available at: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/plant-vacuoles-and-the-regulation-of-stomatal-14163334/.
40. Melotto, M., Underwood, W. and He, S.Y. (2008). Role of Stomata in Plant Innate Immunity and Foliar Bacterial Diseases. Annual Review of Phytopathology, [online] 46(1), pp.101–122. doi:https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.phyto.121107.104959.
41. Meng, J., Wang, Y., Yang, F., Zhao, Z., Wei, Y., Li, R. and Wang, Y. (2023). Dynamic fluctuations in plant leaf interception of airborne microplastics. Science of The Total Environment, pp.167877–167877. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167877.
42. Panwar, H., Panwar, H., Vashistha, H. and Kumar, P. (2024). Microplastics in soil—uptake, fate, transport, and effect on the growth of plants. [online] Elsevier, pp.93–127. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-29804-2.00004-4.
43. Siqueira, J.A., Oliveira, H., Adriano Nunes-Nesi and Araújo, W.L. (2021). Guard cell regulation: pulling the strings behind the scenes. Trends in Plant Science, [online] 26(11), pp.1093–1095. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2021.07.005.
44. US EPA (2022). Microplastics Research. [online] www.epa.gov. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/water-research/microplastics-research.
45. Wexler, Y., Schroeder, J.I. and Shkolnik, D. (2024). Hydrotropism mechanisms and their interplay with gravitropism. The Plant Journal. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.16683.
46. www.sciencedirect.com. (n.d.). Root Cell - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. [online] Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/root-cell.
47. Yi, H., Chen, Y. and Anderson, C.T. (2022). Turgor pressure change in stomatal guard cells arises from interactions between water influx and mechanical responses of their cell walls. Quantitative plant biology, 3. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/qpb.2022.8.
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