Abstract
In this pilot study, microplastic beads (5–50 μm) were tagged with fluorescent dye and introduced to the soil of potted Betula pendula Roth. (silver birch) saplings during the growing season. After five months, root samples were examined using fluorescence- and confocal laser scanning microscopy. This paper presents the first documented indication of the incorporation of microplastic into root tissues of woody plants and discusses the phytoremediation potential of birch in soil with microplastic contamination.
Highlights
Microplastics are ubiquitous, anthropogenic contaminants of emerging concern
In this study we show that individual microplastic particles with diameters between 5 and 10 μm can enter the root system of a birch tree from the surrounding soil (Figs.1 and 2)
By combining fluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), we could locate and visualize labelled microplastic particles embedded among root cell structures
Summary
Due to plastics' inherent durability they are expected to accumulate and persist in the environment. Microplastics originate from both the breakdown of larger plastic fragments and from the release of primary materials from, for example, cleaning products. Microplastics are thereafter transported in water, air and soil (Petersen and Hubbart, 2021). For the organisms, including humans, co-existing alongside these foreign objects in the so-called plastisphere (Zettler et al, 2013), the impact of microplastic on physiological, morphological, behavioral, and biochemical functions is only beginning to be explored (Petersen and Hubbart, 2021)
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