In a new scientific study, researchers discovered the presence of microplastic particles in the water that collects between the leaves of some plants, and although these particles have previously been discovered in soil and river water, their presence in these small and short-lived environments raises questions about how they got there.
The study was recently published in the scientific journal BioRisk by a research team from Prešov University in Slovakia.
Small and Situational Habitats
The discovery occurred by chance while a team of researchers was traveling to eastern Slovakia to study organisms that live in cavities in which water collects between the leaves of some plants, according to the press release published on the EurekAlert website on the ninth of this September.
The researchers focused their attention on a type of plant called "wild-flock", which is of the genus Dipsacus, which is characterized by opposite leaves that grow on top of each other on the stem intertwined in several levels forming cup-like structures or cavities called "water axil" ( phytotelmata) in which water collects.
Small amounts of water accumulate in those cavities, and a mini-environment is created within them that lasts between 3 and 4 months only, but this period is sufficient - according to the researchers - to support life or part of the life cycle of many animal species, as some insects and types of mollusks such as snails use them for reproduction. And the search for food, as it is of scientific importance in studying the stages of growth of mosquitoes, one of the important vectors of diseases.
When analyzing samples of water taken from these cavities, the researchers were surprised by the presence of plastic fragments and different colored fibers, some of which are up to 2.4 mm long, and the analyzes showed that they are microplastic particles.
How did the plastic particles arrive?
The presence of these particles was unexpected because there were no other sources of pollutants in the study area, so the researchers wondered how these small habitats were contaminated with microplastics.
The authors of the study believe that plastic fragments and fibers may have moved through the polluted atmosphere to reach these small environments, or by mollusks that may have transported them from the soil or from other plants inside their bodies or on their snails.
According to the study, this first-of-its-kind discovery of microplastic particles in the small cavities in which water collects between plant leaves is further evidence that pollution of this type spreads through different paths and may not leave a safe environment on Earth.
The authors say that the results of the study can be used to monitor the spread of pollution caused by microplastic particles and its potential impact on plants and the organisms associated with them, and they suggested using these habitats as an indicator of the spread of plastic in nature due to their abundance on the one hand, and their ability to capture microplastics in several ways from the environment. on the other side.
It is mentioned that microplastics are small pieces of plastic material whose sizes do not exceed 5 millimeters, and can be divided into two main categories according to their source: % of total fine particles and 28% of the wear of transport tires.
The other category is the secondary microplastics category that arises from the decomposition of large plastic objects, such as plastic bags, bottles or fishing nets.
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