Physiological and absorption characteristics of sweet potato in response
to polyethylene microplastic
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) pollution poses some serious problems in sweet
potato farms. In this study, pot experiment, liquid adsorption
experiment and fluorescence observation experiment were conducted to
explore the effects of normal and aging MPs on physicochemical
properties in soil, growth and phosphorus (P), potassium (K) absorption
in sweet potato; P and K adsorption in liquid environment; and the
distribution of normal MPs in sweet potato tissues respectively. The
results showed that 5 μm normal polyethylene (PE) MPs significantly
reduced pH and increased EC of soil compared to aging PE MPs. In
addition, normal PE MPs can also significantly improved the biomass
growth rates of sweet potato by adsorping more Olsen-P and Olsen-K in
soil, and increasing K concentration in stems compared with aging PE
MPs. Although there was no significant difference between normal and
aging PE MPs on the degree of membrane lipid peroxidation in sweet
potato leaves, the normal PE MPs made sweet potato exhibit the stronger
oxidative stress. Fluorescent PE MPs spheres just appeared in the
cortical tissues of roots and stems. Our study finds that the sweet
potato will not be harmed by a single PE MPs contamination in a short
period of time.