Authentication of Microplastic Accumulation in Customary Fruits and Vegetables

Abstract

The environment has become a major source of plastic pollution. Microplastics have been well documented in aquatic ecosystems as an increasing pollutant of worldwide relevance, but little is known about their effects on the terrestrial environment, particularly in agroecosystems. Researches have recently proven that microplastics can affect human health and are found in human organs and tissues. In this present study, two different types of fruits like grapes (Vitis vinifera) and banana (Musa paradisiaca), vegetables like brinjal (Solanum melongena) and potato (Solanum tuberosum) were collected from local market in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India and analysed for microplastics accumulation. Further, we identified the microplastic size through stereomicroscope, in grapes and banana the microplastic size was 0.002 mm and 0.01 mm respectively as well as vegetables like potato and brinjal the microplastic size was 0.002 mm and 0.01mm. The identified microplastics had been chemically characterized by FT-IR and viewed through SEM.

Identification and Quantification of Microplastics Contamination in Potato from Malang Raya, Indonesia

“…Table 2 showed that MPs contamination in potato samples in Pujon Kidul (0.05 particles g -1 ) was higher than Sumber Brantas (0.02 particles g -1 ) and Ngadas (0.03 particles g -1 ). These findings supported previous research, where MPs contamination in potatoes had been reported in the Ulungur River basin in Qinghe County, Altay, Xinjiang, China [28]; Tiruchirapalli -Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India [29], Catania city, Sisilia, Italy [30], and Muğla, Southern Western of Turkey [31]. MPs were found in potatoes produced in Pujon Kidul because the land used to grow potatoes had been contaminated with MPs in the amount of 0.03 particles g -1 .…”

Occurrence of Microplastics in Most Consumed Fruits and Vegetables from Turkey and Public Risk Assessment for Consumers

“…Ref. [ 59 ] analyzed the presence of microplastics in fruits (grapes and banana) and vegetables (brinjal and potato) samples taken from different markets in Trichy, Tamil Nadu (India) and reported the occurrence of microplastics of 2 and 10 µm size in fruits and 2 and 10 µm size in vegetables, respectively. Ref.…”

“…Then, the beakers were left to dry in an oven set at 60 °C for 24–48 h. The dried samples were pulverized using a sterilized steel-made blender. Given the lack of a standard international protocol in the literature for the extraction of microplastics from fruits and vegetables, the methods reported by [ 65 ] modified by [ 59 ] was applied in this study. Accordingly, 5 g of dried powdered fruit and vegetable samples were weighed and placed into glass centrifuge tubes with 50 mL capacity.…”

“…With regards to fruits and vegetables, to date, only a few studies aiming to investigate the occurrence of microplastics in these highly consumed healthy food items were carried out globally [ 57 , 58 , 59 ]. With regard to Turkey, this is the first study which reports the occurrence of microplastic in agricultural foods.…”