11/12/2025
New Study: Plastics found inside vegetable tissues for the first time, raising new food safety concerns. Researchers have now shown that some of the smallest plastic particles can move into edible vegetable tissues. Using radishes as their model, the team demonstrated that toxic nanoplastics can enter roots and travel into the fleshy edible parts. This experiment builds on earlier work by the same team, previously finding that nanoplastics can rapidly accumulate in fish and shellfish, adding to evidence that such particles move through the food chain. “To some extent, these findings shouldn’t be a surprise – after all, in all our previous work we have found microplastic pollution everywhere we have looked for it,” said study senior author Professor Richard Thompson. “However, this study provides clear evidence that particles in the environment can accumulate not only in seafood but also in vegetables. This work forms part of our growing understanding on accumulation, and the potentially harmful effects of micro- and nanoparticles on human health.” The discovery matters because the food chain is interconnected. When crops absorb nanoplastics, these particles may pass on to livestock that consume them, eventually reaching humans through multiple dietary routes. Unlike larger plastics, nanoplastics are difficult to detect and nearly impossible to remove once inside biological tissues, making them especially dangerous.
Needless to say, in the near-future, everything that we eat and drink could be filled with toxic microplastics and the toxic synthetic chemicals the plastics contain. Yet, the fossil fuel industry and plastic producers like ExxonMobil are ramping up production and encouraging the world to use ever more petroleum-based plastic products. Who else is getting tired of the profits-over-human-health ethos that the world's biggest corporations espouse?
Read more: https://www.earth.com/news/plastics-found-inside-vegetable-tissues-for-the-first-time