First Evidence That Plastic Nanoparticles Can Accumulate in Edible Parts of Vegetables (sciencealert.com)
- Reference: 0179671024
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/05/2032200/first-evidence-that-plastic-nanoparticles-can-accumulate-in-edible-parts-of-vegetables
- Source link: https://www.sciencealert.com/your-fresh-vegetables-could-be-sucking-up-plastic-right-from-the-soil
> A team of scientists from the University of Plymouth in the UK placed radishes into a [2]hydroponic (water-based) system containing polystyrene nanoparticles. After five days, almost 5% of the nanoplastics had made their way into the radish roots. A quarter of those were in the edible, fleshy roots, while a tenth had traveled up to the higher leafy shoots, despite anatomical features within the plants that typically screen harmful material from the soil.
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> "Plants have a layer within their roots called the Casparian strip, which should act as a form of filter against particles, many of which can be harmful," says physiologist Nathaniel Clark. "This is the first time a study has demonstrated nanoplastic particles could get beyond that barrier, with the potential for them to accumulate within plants and be passed on to anything that consumes them...."
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> There are some limitations to the study, as it didn't use a real-world farming setup. The concentration of plastics in the liquid solution is higher than estimated for soil, and only one type of plastic and one kind of vegetable were tested. Nevertheless, the basic principle stands: the smallest plastic nanoparticles can apparently sneak past protective barriers in plants, and from there into the food we eat... "There is no reason to believe this is unique to this vegetable, with the clear possibility that nanoplastics are being absorbed into various types of produce being grown all over the world," [3]says Clark.
The research has been [4]published in Environmental Research .
[1] https://www.sciencealert.com/we-know-shockingly-little-about-microplastic-impact-on-fetuses
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics
[3] https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/first-evidence-that-plastic-nanoparticles-can-accumulate-in-the-edible-parts-of-vegetables
[4] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.122687
Should have tested all 6 common plastics. (Score:3)
There really are only 6 common plastics used in the US:
PET: Polyethylene Terephthalate (soda bottles, polyester clothing)
HDPE: High-Density Polyethylene (Milk Jugs)
LDPE: Low-Density Polyethylene (Plastic Bags)
PVC: Polyvinyl Chloride (Pipes)
PS: Polysterene (Styrofoam)
PP: Polypropylene (car parts, medical devices)
Pretty stupid to only test PS, when there are only 5 other commonly used.
That said, I am seriously thinking about abandoning root vegetables. Carrots, potatoes, ginger may taste good, but they just do not seem like they are worth the risk. Stick to the stuff a bit higher up and harder to get to.
Re: Should have tested all 6 common plastics. (Score:1)
Did you know Jains have recommended against root vegetables since before recorded history began?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
How do you know if it wasn't recorded ?
Anyway, if they do eat bacon, I'm with them.
Re: (Score:2)
> Pretty stupid to only test PS, when there are only 5 other commonly used.
I know, right?
I'd expect scientists with limited time and budget to do ever experiment simultaneously regardless of space constraints, equipment requirements, complexity of detection, and the scope of their mandate.
It's truly ghastly how experts don't rely on Internet laypeople who know it all already.
cook your lettuce (Score:2)
> but they just do not seem like they are worth the risk. Stick to the stuff a bit higher up and harder to get to.
People are bad at judge risk on their own. It's just not intuitive for us humans.
Eating vegetables exposes you to pathogen risks like Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella. It would probably be best to cook your lettuce from now on, or not have it at all.
If it can containt water (Score:2)
It can contain nanoplastics.
Re: (Score:2)
lol "containt" what a typo
Wait! What? (Score:4, Funny)
Vegetables are edible?
Re: Wait! What? (Score:2)
How soon before we just eat plastic directly? Will soylent green be plastic?
Re: (Score:1)
Just RTFS already.
This is about how it is now possible to pick tasty, nutritious plastic pieces out of vegetable roots.
Too bad... (Score:2)
... our increasing reliance on plastics is only going to make it worse.
It would most likely require formulating a new plastic that didn't have a shedding problem.
Didn't they used to reuse glass bottles? Did we have microglass particles in our pop or beer or milk?
Re: (Score:2)
Oh don't worry. Someday everyone will try to switch to CNTs and derivatives, and those might shed too!
Re: (Score:2)
Very true... I'd think those would be orders of magnitude stronger, so less leaching, but, yeah... I'm willing to bet nobody has done studies on what would happen to a micro-fragment of CNT that got swallowed or breathed.
Re:Too bad... (Score:4, Informative)
Glass is significantly more recycled than plastics. In Europe I think the numbers are over 70% of glass is recycled, as compared to around 41% for plastics. (The US numbers are lower - even in California.)
Glass can be recycled unlimited times, while plastic tends to degrade over time. I think the main reason is that glass melts at a higher temperature and you basically burn off the labels and other crap.
Also, glass is a compound of mostly silicon: NaâO plus CaO plus SiOâ. Note short chemical formulas and no Carbon in any of the components. That means it is inorganic, none of the components are poisonous or even similar to things found in the body. Plastics are long chains of organic chemicals containing carbon. They and the things they degrade to are VERY similar to hormones and other things naturally found in the body.
Glass is basically safe, as long as it is not sharp. Plastic are similar to things we know cause medical problems.
Re: (Score:2)
This 'side of the pond', yeah... there's no real 'bottle return' scheme.
If I put a case of beer bottles in the recycle dumpster behind my place, a garbage-style truck dumps it in the back and crushes it with the plastic and aluminum that's in there... even though, you could really wash the bottles to sanitize them and reuse them, as long as there's no chunks missing.
But... there's not money to be made here in the US by reusing, in fact, you typically pay for them to pick up recycling. They grind the bottle
Re: Too bad... (Score:2)
They still use glass in some places. But it doesn't fit our modern sensibilities to drink from as bottle where the label has been rubbed off due to reuse. It gives moderns an icky feeling to know their Coca-Cola bottle was already drank from.