Plants take synthetic pollutants up from the soil. The insects eat the greens and then anything that eats them.
Just as with heavy metals in the ocean, it has been found that small plastic particles can move up the food chain. These particles are mostly the result of larger plastic pieces being weathered down by nature and eaten by animals.
In a laboratory, researchers from Europe fed a small amount of polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride to lettuce.
After another 5 days, the researchers gave the black soldier flies to the roach fish.
The rare element gadolinium was encased in the tiny plastic to make it easier to track them. To make sure the plastic covered the metal, the team used a scanning electron microscope.
The good news is that biomagnification didn't happen with these types of plastic. When pollutants like mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls pass up the food chain, they cause biomagnification, which is when the chemicals taken up at the lower trophic levels become more concentrated.
The images showed that the fish, the insects, and the leaves of the lettuce had small particles of plastic in their bodies.
The two plastics behaved in different ways as they traveled through the food chain. Less of the plastic flavor was passed on due to the lettuce taking up less polystyrene.
The size, shape, and surface chemistry of the particles could all have an impact on the lives of people. Some earthworms are more likely to break down polyethylene in the soil before a plant takes it up.
The results show that lettuce can take up small particles from the soil and transfer them into the food chain. If these findings are found to be generalizable to other plants and crops and to field settings, the presence of tiny plastic particles in soil could be associated with a potential health risk.
In every environment, from the deepest ocean trenches to the highest mountains, microplastics are used. They are in the food, the water, and the air we breathe.
There's no need for panic as there are no immediate impacts on us, but long-term exposure and high concentration levels are still a concern.
The concern about these tiny particles is that they are small enough to pass through many more barriers than their larger brethren. Some have been found to cause toxicity in plants and animals.
Monikh and colleagues show how these plastic can attract a cover on their surface as they pass through different life forms. They don't know how this changes their impact.
Monikh concludes that more research is needed.
The research was published in a journal.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
