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Quantitative tracing of uptake and transport of submicrometre plastics in crop plants using lanthanide chelates as a dual-functional tracer

Nature Nanotechnology volume 17, pages 424–431 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

The uptake pathways of nanoplastics by edible plants have recently been qualitatively investigated. There is an urgent need to accurately quantify nanoplastics accumulation in plants. Polystyrene (PS) particles with a diameter of 200 nm were doped with the europium chelate Eu–β-diketonate (PS-Eu), which was used to quantify PS-Eu particles uptake by wheat (Triticum aestivum) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa), grown hydroponically and in sandy soil using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. PS-Eu particles accumulated mainly in the roots, while transport to the shoots was limited (for example, <3% for 5,000 μg PS particles per litre exposure). Visualization of PS-Eu particles in the roots and shoots was performed with time-gated luminescence through the time-resolved fluorescence of the Eu chelate. The presence of PS-Eu particles in the plant was further confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Doping with lanthanide chelates provides a versatile strategy for elucidating the interactions between nanoplastics and plants.

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Fig. 1: PS-Eu particles images and elemental composition.
Fig. 2: Time-gated imaging of wheat root, stem and leaf after exposure to PS-Eu particles.
Fig. 3: Time-gated imaging of lettuce root, stem and leaf after exposure to PS-Eu particles.
Fig. 4: Bioaccumulation of PS-Eu particles in two crop plants after exposure in solution and soil.
Fig. 5: SEM images of PS-Eu particles localization in the root and leaf of a wheat plant.
Fig. 6: SEM images of PS-Eu particles localization in the root of a lettuce plant.

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Data availability

Source data are provided with this paper. Additional datasets related to this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Y.L. gratefully acknowledges the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 41991330), the financial support by the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. QYZDJ-SSW-DQC015) and the National Nature Science Foundation of China (grant no. 41877142). L.L. acknowledges the National Nature Science Foundation of China (grant no. 42177040). W.J.G.M.P. benefited from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (PLASTICFATE, grant agreement no. 965367). We thank B. Song and J. Yuan at Dalian University of Technology for their kind help with the time-gated luminescence technique. We express our gratitude to C. Liu for his kind help in the calculation of the relative stability constants for metal complexes.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Yongming Luo, Lianzhen Li.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

    Yongming Luo, Yudong Feng, Ruijie Li & Jie Yang

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China

    Lianzhen Li & Chen Tu

  3. Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China

    Lianzhen Li & Chen Tu

  4. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China

    Ruijie Li

  5. National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Center for Safety of Substances and Products, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    Willie J. G. M. Peijnenburg

  6. Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Willie J. G. M. Peijnenburg

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Contributions

Y.L. managed the whole project, designed all the experiments and jointly wrote the manuscript. L.L. conducted the uptake experiments and wrote the manuscript. Y.F. measured the metal content in the particles and plants as well as the release of the Eu in the solutions. R.L. inspected the plant tissue using a confocal laser scanning microscope and time-gated luminescence imaging technique. J.Y. examined the samples with a scanning electron microscope and collected the images. R.L. and C.T. analysed the biological effect and analysed the enzyme activity. W.J.G.M.P. helped with manuscript revision and data analysis. All authors contributed to the results, discussion and manuscript writing.

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Correspondence to Yongming Luo.

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Nature Nanotechnology thanks Ilaria Corsi, Livius Muff and Fabienne Schwab for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Luo, Y., Li, L., Feng, Y. et al. Quantitative tracing of uptake and transport of submicrometre plastics in crop plants using lanthanide chelates as a dual-functional tracer. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17, 424–431 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-01063-3

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