Accumulation of Microplastics in Agroecosystems and Its Effects on Terrestrial Plants: A Short Review

Main Article Content

Md. Shafiul Islam
Shitosri Mondal
Prodipto Bishnu Angon*
Md. Abdul Jalil

Abstract

Microplastics are currently a major global threat as they enter the ecosystem in large quantities daily and are able to persist in the environment for a long period of time. Current research focuses mainly on aquatic and related ecosystems; however, little information is available on the sources, possible accumulation, and pathways of microplastics in agroecosystems. It was previously thought that plastic particles could not be taken up or accumulate in plant bodies, but with modern technology, it has been observed that plastic particles are able to penetrate plants at the micro and nanoscales through transpiration pull forces, and in some cases through the leaves with foliar application. The purpose of the study was to identify potential sources of microplastics, their ways of entry into agroecosystems as well as into plants, and the effects of microplastics on the physiological processes of plants. We highlighted the harmful effects of these pollutants on agricultural ecosystems. Microplastics causes pore space blockages on root surfaces and oxidative damage. Moreover, they inhibit nutrient and water uptake, decrease germination capability, and have negative effects on product quality.


Keywords: microplastics; terrestrial plants; agroecosystem; accumulation; oxidative damage


*Corresponding author: Tel.: (+880) 1717697088


                                             E-mail: [email protected]

Article Details

Section
Review Ariticle

References

Masura, J., Baker, J., Foster, G. and Arthur, C., 2015. Laboratory Methods for the Analysis of Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Recommendations for Quantifying Synthetic Particles in Waters and Sediments. Silver Spring: NOAA Marine Debris Division.

Issac, M.N. and Kandasubramanian, B., 2021. Effect of microplastics in water and aquatic systems. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 19544-19562.

Angon, P.B., Tahjib-Ul-Arif, M., Samin, S.I., Habiba, U., Hossain, M.A. and Brestic, M., 2022. How do plants respond to combined drought and salinity stress?—A systematic review. Plants. 11(21), DOI: 10.3390/plants1121884.

Horton, A.A., Walton, A., Spurgeon, D.J., Lahive, E. and Svendsen, C., 2017. Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities. Science of the Total Environment, 586, 127-141.

Geyer, R., Jambeck, J.R. and Law, K.L., 2017. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Science Advances, 3(7), DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700782.

Azeem, I., Adeel, M., Ahmad, M.A., Shakoor, N., Jiangcuo, G.D., Azeem, K., Ishfaq, M., Shakoor, A., Ayaz, M., Xu, M. and Rui, Y., 2021. Uptake and accumulation of nano/microplastics in plants: a critical review. Nanomaterials, 11(11), DOI: 10.3390/nano11112935.

Machado, A.A.D.S., Kloas, W., Zarfl, C., Hempel, S. and Rillig, M.C., 2018. Microplastics as an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystems. Global Change Biology, 24(4), 1405-1416.

Angon, P.B., Salehin, I., Khan, M.M.R. and Mondal, S., 2021. Cropland mapping expansion for production forecast: rainfall, relative humidity and temperature estimation. International Journal of Engineering and Manufacturing, 5, 25-40.

Price, P.W., 2002. Resource-driven terrestrial interaction webs. Ecological Research, 17, 241-247.

Angon, P.B., Khan, M.M.R. and Tonny, S.H., 2022. An assessment of the interaction between carbon dioxide emissions and available nutrients from the lifecycle of several agricultural crops. Caraka Tani: Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 37(2), 373-384.

Boyle, K. and Örmeci, B., 2020. Microplastics and nanoplastics in the freshwater and terrestrial environment: a review. Water, 12(9), DOI: 10.3390/w12092633.

Kumari, A., Rajput, V.D., Mandzhieva, S.S., Rajput, S., Minkina, T., Kaur, R., Sushkova, S., Kumari, P., Ranjan, A., Kalinitchenko, V.P. and Glinushkin, A.P., 2022. Microplastic pollution: An emerging threat to terrestrial plants and insights into its remediation strategies. Plants, 11, DOI: 10.3390/plants11030340.

Ng, E.-L., Lwanga E.H., Eldridge S.M., Johnston P., Hu H.-W., Geissen V. and Chen D., 2018. An overview of microplastic and nanoplastic pollution in agroecosystems. Science of the Total Environment, 627, 1377-1388.

Duis, K. and Coors, A., 2016. Microplastics in the aquatic and terrestrial environment: sources (with a specific focus on personal care products), fate and effects. Environmental Sciences Europe, 28(1), DOI: 10.1186/s12302-015-0069-y.

Jambeck, J.R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T.R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., Narayan, R. and Law, K.L., 2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science, 347(6223), 768-771.

Lee, J., Hong, S., Song, Y.K., Hong, S.H., Jang, Y.C., Jang, M., Heo, N.W., Han, G.M., Lee, M.J., Kang, D. and Shim, W.J., 2013. Relationships among the abundances of plastic debris in different size classes on beaches in South Korea. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 77, 349-354.

Carr, S.A., Liu, J. and Tesoro, A.G., 2016. Transport and fate of microplastic particles in wastewater treatment plants. Water Research. 91, 174-182.

Edo, C., González-Pleiter, M., Leganés, F., Fernández-Piñas, F. and Rosal, R., 2020. Fate of microplastics in wastewater treatment plants and their environmental dispersion with effluent and sludge. Environmental Pollution, 259, DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113837.

Zubris, K.A.V. and Richards, B.K., 2005. Synthetic fibers as an indicator of land application of sludge. Environmental Pollution, 138, 201-211.

Nizzetto, L., Futter, M. and Langaas, S., 2016. Are agricultural soils dumps for microplastics of urban origin? Environmental Science and Technology, 50, 10777-10779.

Angon, P.B., Khan, M.M.R., Islam, M.S. and Parvin, R., 2022. Evaluating the parameters influencing agricultural productivity due to the limitations of smartphone-related knowledge among farmers. Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science, 7, 80-85.

United Nations Environment Programme, 2020. Water Pollution by Plastics and Microplastics: A Review of Technical Solutions from Source to Sea. [online] Available at: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/34424/WPMM.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

Shen, M., Zeng, G., Zhang, Y., Wen, X., Song, B. and Tang, W., 2019. Can biotechnology strategies effectively manage environmental (micro) plastics? Science of the Total Environment, 697, DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134200.

Liu, L., Xu, M., Ye, Y. and Zhang, B., 2022. On the degradation of (micro)plastics: Degradation methods, influencing factors, environmental impacts. Science of the Total Environment, 806, DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151312.

Meng, F., Fan, T., Yang, X., Riksen, M., Xu, M. and Geissen, V., 2020. Effects of plastic mulching on the accumulation and distribution of macro and micro plastics in soils of two farming systems in Northwest China. PeerJ, 8, DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10375.

Vetrimurugan, E., Jonathan, M., Sarkar, S., Rodríguez-González, F., Roy, P.D., Velumani, S. and Sakthi, J., 2020. Occurrence, distribution and provenance of micro plastics: A large scale quantitative analysis of beach sediments from southeastern coast of South Africa. Science of the Total Environment, 746, DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141103.

Yu, J., Adingo, S., Liu, X., Li, X., Sun, J. and Zhang, X., 2022. Micro plastics in soil ecosystem-A review of sources, fate, and ecological impact. Plant, Soil and Environment, 68(1), 1-17.

Zhou, J., Wen, Y., Marshall, M.R., Zhao, J., Gui, H., Yang, Y., Zeng, Z., Jones, D.L. and Zang, H., 2021. Microplastics as an emerging threat to plant and soil health in agroecosystems. Science of the Total Environment, 787, DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147444.

Wang, X.-M., Wang, X.-K., Su, Y.-B. and Zhang, H.-X., 2019. Land pavement depresses photosynthesis in urban trees especially under drought stress. Science of the Total Environment, 653, 120-130.

Zhu, Y., Zhu, D., Xu, T. and Ma, J., 2019. Impacts of (micro) plastics on soil ecosystem: progress and perspective. Journal of Agro-Environment Science, 38, DOI: 10.11654/jaes.2018-1427.

Yin, L., Wen, X., Huang, D., Du, C., Deng, R., Zhou, Z., Tao, J., Li, R., Zhou, W., Wang, Z. and Chen, H., 2021. Interactions between microplastics/nanoplastics and vascular plants. Environmental Pollution, 290, DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117999.

Wang, G., Lu, J., Li, W., Ning, J., Zhou, L., Tong, Y., Liu, Z., Zhou, H. and Xiayihazi, N., 2021. Seasonal variation and risk assessment of microplastics in surface water of the Manas River Basin, China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 208, DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111477.

Liu, P., Zhan, X., Wu, X., Li, J., Wang, H. and Gao, S., 2020. Effect of weathering on environmental behavior of microplastics: Properties, sorption and potential risks. Chemosphere, 242, DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125193.

Kalčíková, G., Skalar, T., Marolt, G. and Kokalj, A.J., 2020. An environmental concentration of aged microplastics with adsorbed silver significantly affects aquatic organisms. Water Research, 175, DOI: 10.1016/j.waters.2020.115644.

Teuten, E.L., Saquing, J.M., Knappe, D.R.U., Barlaz, M.A., Jonsson, S., Björn, A., Rowland, S.J., Thompson, R.C., Galloway, T.S., Yamashita, R., Ochi, D., Watanuki, Y., Moore, C., Viet, P.H., Tana, T.S., Prudente, M., Boonyatumanond, R., Zakaria, M.P., Akkhavong, K., Ogata, Y., Hirai, H., Iwasa, S., Mizukawa, K., Hagino, Y., Imamura, A., Saha, M. and Takada, H., 2009. Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364, 2027-2045.

Bandmann, V., Müller, J.D., Köhler, T. and Homann, U., 2012. Uptake of fluorescent nano beads into BY2-cells involves clathrin-dependent and clathrin-independent endocytosis. FEBS Letters, 586, 3626-3632.

Avellan, A., Schwab, F., Masion, A., Chaurand, P., Borschneck, D., Vidal, V., Rose, J., Santaella, C. and Levard, C., 2017. Nanoparticle uptake in plants: gold nanomaterial localized in roots of Arabidopsis thaliana by x-ray computed nanotomography and hyperspectral imaging. Environmental Science and Technology, 51, 8682-8691.

Li, L., Luo, Y., Li, R., Zhou, Q., Peijnenburg, W.J., Yin, N., Yang, J., Tu, C. and Zhang, Y., 2020. Effective uptake of submicrometre plastics by crop plants via a crack-entry mode. Nature Sustainability, 3, 929-937.

Lian, J., Wu, J., Zeb, A., Zheng, S., Ma, T., Peng, F., Tang, J. and Liu, W., 2020. Do polystyrene nanoplastics affect the toxicity of cadmium to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)? Environmental Pollution, 263, DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114498.

Bosker, T., Bouwman, L.J., Brun, N.R., Behrens, P. and Vijver, M.G., 2019. Microplastics accumulate on pores in seed capsule and delay germination and root growth of the terrestrial vascular plant Lepidium sativum. Chemosphere, 226, 774-781.

Adeel, M., Yang, Y., Wang, Y., Song, X., Ahmad, M.A. and Rogers, H.J., 2018. Uptake and transformation of steroid estrogens as emerging contaminants influence plant development. Environmental Pollution, 243, 1487-1497.

Sun, H., Lei, C., Xu, J. and Li, R., 2021. Foliar uptake and leaf-to-root translocation of nanoplastics with different coating charge in maize plants. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 416, DOI: 10.1016/j.hazmat.2021.125854.

Lusher, A., 2015. Microplastics in the marine environment: Distribution, interactions and effects. In: M. Bergmann, L. Gutow and M. Klages, eds. Marine Anthropogenic Litter. Cham: Springer, pp. 245-307.

Guo, X. and Wang, J., 2019. The chemical behaviors of microplastics in marine environment: A review. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 142, 1-14.

Pflugmacher, S., Sulek, A., Mader, H., Heo, J., Noh, J.H., Penttinen, O.-P., Kim, Y.J., Kim, S. and Esterhuizen, M., 2020. The influence of new and artificial aged microplastic and leachates on the germination of Lepidium sativum L. Plants (Basel), 9(3), DOI: 10.3390/plants9030339.

Boots, B., Russell, C.W. and Green, D.S., 2019. Effects of microplastics in soil ecosystems: above and below ground. Environmental Science and Technology, 53, 11496-11506.

Mondal, N.K., Kundu, S., Debnath, P., Mondal, A. and Sen, K., 2022. Effects of polyethylene terephthalate microplastic on germination, biochemistry and phytotoxicity of Cicer arietinum L. and cytotoxicity study on Allium cepa L. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 94, DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2022.103908.

Guo, M., Zhao, F., Tian, L., Ni, K., Lu, Y. and Borah, P., 2022. Effects of polystyrene microplastics on the seed germination of herbaceous ornamental plants. Science of the Total Environment, 809, DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151100.

Zhang, Q., Zhao, M., Meng, F., Xiao, Y., Dai, W. and Luan, Y., 2021. Effect of polystyrene microplastics on rice seed germination and antioxidant enzyme activity. Toxics, 9(8), DOI: 10.3390/toxics9080179.

Taylor, S.E., Pearce, C.I., Sanguinet, K.A., Hu, D., Chrisler, W.B., Kim, Y.-M., Wang Z. and Flury, M., 2020. Polystyrene nano-and microplastic accumulation at Arabidopsis and wheat root cap cells, but no evidence for uptake into roots. Environmental Science: Nano, 7, 1942-1953.

Wu, J., Liu, W., Zeb, A., Lian, J., Sun, Y. and Sun, H., 2021. Polystyrene microplastic interaction with Oryza sativa: toxicity and metabolic mechanism. Environmental Science: Nano, 8, 3699-3710.

Machado, A.A.D.S., Lau, C.W., Kloas, W., Bergmann, J., Bachelier, J.B., Faltin, E., Becker, R., Görlich, A.S. and Rillig, M.C., 2019. Microplastics can change soil properties and affect plant performance. Environmental Science and Technology, 53, 6044-6052.

Kasmuri, N., Tarmizi, N.A.A. and Mojiri, A., 2022. Occurrence, impact, toxicity, and degradation methods of microplastics in environment-a review. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 29(21), 30820-30836.

Gao, M., Liu, Y. and Song, Z., 2019. Effects of polyethylene microplastic on the phytotoxicity of di-n-butyl phthalate in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. ramosa Hort). Chemosphere, 237, DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124482.

Dovidat, L.C., Brinkmann, B.W., Vijver, M.G. and Bosker, T., 2020. Plastic particles adsorb to the roots of freshwater vascular plant Spirodela polyrhiza but do not impair growth. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 5, 37-45.

Jiang, X., Chen, H., Liao, Y., Ye, Z., Li, M. and Klobučar, G., 2019. Ecotoxicity and genotoxicity of polystyrene microplastics on higher plant Vicia faba. Environmental Pollution, 250, 831-838.

Wu, X., Hou, H., Liu, Y., Yin, S., Bian, S., Liang, S., Wan, C., Yuan, S., Xiao, K., Liu, B., Hu, J. and Yang, J., 2022. Microplastics affect rice (Oryza sativa L.) quality by interfering metabolite accumulation and energy expenditure pathways: A field study. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 422, DOI: 10.1016/jhazmat.2021.126834.

Jia, H., Wu, D., Yu, Y., Han, S., Sun, L. and Li, M., 2022. Impact of microplastics on bioaccumulation of heavy metals in rape (Brassica napus L.). Chemosphere, 288, DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132576.