Microplastics pollution in the terrestrial environments: Poorly known diffuse sources and implications for plants

Campanale, Claudia; Galafassi, Silvia; Savino, Ilaria; Massarelli, Carmine; Ancona, Valeria; Volta, Pietro; Uricchio, Vito Felice

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150431

Cited by 153 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…The chemical additives included in plastics, such as phthalates, bisphenol A, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, have the potential to cause hazardous consequences on plants and even in other living organisms, including humans, when ingested [13,62]. Furthermore, MPs have a high adsorption capacity, which renders them susceptible to transporting a variety of pollutants [63]. Hence, in this section, the potential methods to remove MPs from the environments are described.…”

Section: Remediation Strategies Of Mpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic Pollution: An Emerging Threat to Terrestrial Plants and Insights into Its Remediation Strategies

Kumari

Rajput

Mandzhieva

et al. 2022

Plants

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Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous and constitute a global hazard to the environment because of their robustness, resilience, and long-term presence in the ecosystem. For now, the majority of research has primarily focused on marine and freshwater ecosystems, with just a small amount of attention towards the terrestrial ecosystems. Although terrestrial ecosystems are recognized as the origins and routes for MPs to reach the sea, there is a paucity of knowledge about these ecological compartments, which is necessary for conducting effective ecological risk assessments. Moreover, because of their high persistence and widespread usage in agriculture, agribusiness, and allied sectors, the presence of MPs in arable soils is undoubtedly an undeniable and severe concern. Consequently, in the recent decade, the potential risk of MPs in food production, as well as their impact on plant growth and development, has received a great deal of interest. Thus, a thorough understanding of the fate and risks MPs, as well as prospective removal procedures for safe and viable agricultural operations in real-world circumstances, are urgently needed. Therefore, the current review is proposed to highlight the potential sources and interactions of MPs with agroecosystems and plants, along with their remediation strategies.

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Section: Remediation Strategies Of Mpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic Pollution: An Emerging Threat to Terrestrial Plants and Insights into Its Remediation Strategies

Kumari

Rajput

Mandzhieva

et al. 2022

Plants

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“…These same authors reported that drinking water and salt are also a pathway of MPs exposure to humans, with concentrations ranging from 0-61 particles/L in tap water, from 0-3074 MPs/L in bottled water, and from 0-13,629 particles/kg for salt [55,56]. However, MPs have been also being identified in other foods, such as sugar (249 ± 130 particles/kg), fruits (5.2 particles/100 g), vegetables (6.4 particles/100 g), cereals (5.7 particles/100 g), honey (1992-9752 particles/kg), meats (9.6 particles/100 g), dairy products (8.1 particles/100 g), soft drinks (40 ± 24.53 particles/L), tea (11 ± 5.26 particles/L), energy drinks (14 ± 5.79 particles/L), and beers (152 ± 50.97 particles/L) [42,44,[57][58][59][60][61][62].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some recent studies refer to the occurrence of MPs in other food groups, such as sugar (249 ± 130 particles/kg), fruits (5.2 particles/100 g), vegetables (6.4 particles/100 g), cereals (5.7 particles/100 g), honey (1992-9752 particles/kg), meats (9.6 particles/100 g), dairy products (8.1 particles/100 g), soft drinks (40 ± 24.53 particles/L), tea (11 ± 5.26 particles/L), energy drinks (14 ± 5.79 particles/L), and beers (152 ± 50.97 particles/L) [42,44,[57][58][59][60][61][62], which had not yet been pointed as a dietary sources of MPs. MPs in agricultural soils create a potential impact on plants, including edible species, with relative concerns on food security [62]. Therefore, we suggest all food categories should be considered in the MPs dietary exposure assessment studies as any food group, if contaminated with quantifiable levels of MPs, may contribute to the total intake of MPs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics as Emerging Food Contaminants: A Challenge for Food Safety

Rubio

Alejandro-Vega

Paz-Montelongo

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Microplastics (MPs) have been identified as emerging environmental pollutants classified as primary or secondary based on their source. Composition, shape, size, and colour, among other characteristics, are associated with their capacity to access the food chain and their risks. While the environmental impact of MPs has received much attention, the risks for humans derived from their dietary exposure have not been yet assessed. Several institutions and researchers support that the current knowledge does not supply solid data to complete a solid risk characterization of dietary MPs. The aim of this paper is to review the current knowledge about MPs in foods and to discuss the challenges and gaps for a risk analysis. The presence of MPs in food and beverages has been worldwide observed, but most authors considered the current data to be not only insufficient but of questionable quality mainly because of the outstanding lack of consensus about a standardized quantifying method and a unified nomenclature. Drinking water, crustaceans/molluscs, fish, and salt have been identified as relevant dietary sources of MPs for humans by most published studies. The hazard characterization presents several gaps concerning the knowledge of the toxicokinetic, toxicodynamic, and toxicity of MPs in humans that impede the estimation of food safety standards based on risk. This review provides a tentative exposure assessment based on the levels of MPs published for drinking water, crustaceans and molluscs, fish, and salt and using the mean European dietary consumption estimates. The intake of 2 L/day of water, 70.68 g/day of crustaceans/molluscs, 70.68 g/day of fish, and 9.4 g/day of salt would generate a maximum exposure to 33,626, 212.04, 409.94 and 6.40 particles of MPs/day, respectively. The inexistence of reference values to evaluate the MPs dietary intake prevents the dietary MPs risk characterization and therefore the management of this risk. Scientists and Food Safety Authorities face several challenges but also opportunities associated to the occurrence of MPs in foods. More research on the MPs characterization and exposure is needed bearing in mind that any future risk assessment report should involve a total diet perspective.

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“…Therefore, hazardous elements in the polluted environment have a negative impact on plant growth, even at low or high metal concentrations. Toxic elements can harm the photosynthetic process, slow the growth of plants, and cause oxidative stress, Pollution does not only affect cultivated plants or human health but also affects the health of the complete ecosystem depending on the kind of pollution, such as microplastic, sewage sludge, electronic wastes, mining wastes, and human wastes [184]. The problems that face plant nutrition under pollution stress may depend on the type of pollutants, their concentration, the medium of pollution (soil, air, water, etc.…”

Section: Plant Nutrition Under Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Nutrition for Human Health: A Pictorial Review on Plant Bioactive Compounds for Sustainable Agriculture

et al. 2022

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Is there any relationship between plant nutrition and human health? The overall response to this question is very positive, and a strong relationship between the nutrition of plants and humans has been reported in the literature. The nutritional status of edible plants consumed by humans can have a negative or positive impact on human health. This review was designed to assess the importance of plant bioactive compounds for human health under the umbrella of sustainable agriculture. With respect to the first research question, it was found that plant bioactives (e.g., alkaloids, carotenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, and terpenoids) have a crucial role in human health due to their therapeutic benefits, and their potentiality depends on several factors, including botanical, environmental, and clinical attributes. Plant bioactives could be produced using plant tissue culture tools (as a kind of agro-biotechnological method), especially in cases of underexploited or endangered plants. Bioactive production of plants depends on many factors, especially climate change (heat stress, drought, UV radiation, ozone, and elevated CO2), environmental pollution, and problematic soils (degraded, saline/alkaline, waterlogged, etc.). Under the previously mentioned stresses, in reviewing the literature, a positive or negative association was found depending on the kinds of stress or bioactives and their attributes. The observed correlation between plant bioactives and stress (or growth factors) might explain the importance of these bioactives for human health. Their accumulation in stressed plants can increase their tolerance to stress and their therapeutic roles. The results of this study are in keeping with previous observational studies, which confirmed that the human nutrition might start from edible plants and their bioactive contents, which are consumed by humans. This review is the first report that analyzes this previously observed relationship using pictorial presentation.

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Microplastics pollution in the terrestrial environments: Poorly known diffuse sources and implications for plants

Cited by 153 publications

References 129 publications

Microplastic Pollution: An Emerging Threat to Terrestrial Plants and Insights into Its Remediation Strategies

Microplastic Pollution: An Emerging Threat to Terrestrial Plants and Insights into Its Remediation Strategies

Microplastics as Emerging Food Contaminants: A Challenge for Food Safety

Plant Nutrition for Human Health: A Pictorial Review on Plant Bioactive Compounds for Sustainable Agriculture

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