Comparing the impact of microplastics derived from a biodegradable and a conventional plastic mulch on plant performance.

Autor: Zantis LJ; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: l.j.zantis@cml.leidenuniv.nl., Adamczyk S; Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: sylwia.adamczyk@luke.fi., Velmala SM; Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: sannakajsa.velmala@luke.fi., Adamczyk B; Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: bartosz.adamczyk@luke.fi., Vijver MG; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: Vijver@cml.leidenuniv.nl., Peijnenburg W; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands; National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Center for Safety of Substances and Products, P.O. Box 1, Bilthoven, the Netherlands. Electronic address: Peijnenburg@cml.leidenuniv.nl., Bosker T; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: t.bosker@cml.leidenuniv.nl.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Jul 20; Vol. 935, pp. 173265. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 15.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173265
Abstrakt: Agricultural lands have been identified as plastic sinks. One source is plastic mulches, which are a source of micro- and nano-sized plastics in agricultural soils. Because of their persistence, there is now a push towards developing biodegradable plastics, which are designed to undergo (partial) breakdown after entering the environment. Yet, limited research has investigated the impacts of both conventional and biodegradable plastics on distinct plants. Moreover, comparisons among studies are difficult due to differences in experimental design. This study directly compares the effects of artificially weathered conventional polyethylene (PE) and starch-based biodegradable polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) on four food crops, including two monocots (barley, Hordeum vulgare, and wheat, Triticum aestivum L.) and two dicots (carrot, Daucus carota, and lettuce, Lactuca sativa L.). We investigated the effects of environmentally relevant low, medium, and high (0.01 %, 0.1 %, 1 % w/w) concentrations of PE and starch-PBAT blend on seed germination (acute toxicity), and subsequently on plant growth and chlorophyll through a pot-plant experiment (chronic toxicity). Germination of all species was not affected by both plastics. However, root length was reduced for lettuce and wheat seedlings. No other effects were recorded on monocots. We observed a reduction in shoot length and bud wet weight of carrot seedlings for the highest concentration of PE and starch-PBAT blend. Chronic exposure resulted in a significant decrease in shoot biomass of barley and lettuce. Additionally, a positive increase in the number of leaves of lettuce was observed for both plastics. Chlorophyll content was increased in lettuce when exposed to PE and starch-PBAT blend. Overall, adverse effects in dicots were more abundant than in monocots. Importantly, we found that the biodegradable plastic caused more commonly adverse effects on plants compared to conventional plastic, which was confirmed by a mini-review of studies directly comparing the impact of conventional and biodegradable microplastics.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Laura J. Zantis reports financial support was provided by Horizon Europe. Sylwia Adamczyk reports financial support was provided by Horizon Europe. Sannakajsa M. Velmala reports financial support was provided by Horizon Europe. Bartosz Adamczyk reports financial support was provided by Horizon Europe. Thijs Bosker reports financial support was provided by Horizon Europe. Willie Peijnenburg reports financial support was provided by Horizon Europe. Martina G. Vijver reports financial support was provided by European Research Council. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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