Birch Trees Can Soak Up Microplastics From The Soil
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The proliferation of microplastics in our oceans has received worldwide attention. However, the abundance of the tiny plastic fragments in the soil has largely gone unnoticed. A 2018 study by German scientists found terrestrial microplastic pollution — caused by wastewater irrigation and sewage — far exceeds marine microplastic pollution.
Previous research has shown that plants often absorb microplastics. They either end up in the produce we consume or accumulate inside the plants' root systems. This led scientists from Germany's Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) to wonder if plants could be used to remove plastic particles from ecosystems in a controlled manner.
For their study, the scientists turned to birch trees. The fast-growing trees, found in abundance in the Northern Hemisphere's temperate zones, have proved effective in restoring contaminated land. Their shallow roots absorb industrial pollutants and heavy metals from the soil and store them in the trees' tissues. Microbial communities inside the tissues help break down the otherwise harmful hydrocarbons.
The scientists tagged microplastic beads with a fluorescent dye and added them to the soil of potted silver birch saplings. The root systems were examined five months later using laser scanning technology. The study, published in the journal Science Direct on February 20, 2022, found that the microplastics had permeated different sections of the roots in between five and 17 percent of the trees.
While the results are encouraging, the team still needs to determine the microbeads' impact on the birch trees. "The uptake rate of microplastics and the effects on the short- and long-term health of the trees still need to be studied," said lead author Kat Austen. "But this pilot study suggests birch has real potential for long-term soil remediation solutions — including reducing the amount of microplastics in soil and possibly water."
Promising as the news is, trees alone will not help solve our ever-growing plastic pollution problem. For that to happen, we will all have to do our part. This Earth Day, let's "Invest in our Planet" by reducing, or perhaps even eliminating, the use of single-use plastics in our daily lives.
Happy Earth Day!
Resources: Unep.org, Newatlas.com, Phys.com, Ibtimes.com
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53 Comments
- buster_unknown3 daysGood job people! I think I’ve seen those trees in Fortnite. Is it still fine if I cut down the birch trees in Minecraft though.
liatortilla3 monthsnice
plushpusheen100about 1 monthGood job birch trees #DoNOTcutDownBirchTrees
zoeyjane10289 monthsin the simplified version it says very few people know about the tiny bits of microplastic in the soil and we are some of the few!!!- zoeyjane10289 months# save trees and turtles!!!!!!!!! yay
- kayden2022about 1 yearI am Really liking This it is really Cool how They Plant!!!
fakeberrieabout 1 yearI'm excited about the following study!
zachwwabout 1 year# save the trees if you like this then you agree that Fortnite is killing the trees so it sucks
cookiefoxcandyabout 1 yearGood job birch trees #DoNOTcutDownBirchTrees
the_emobadieabout 1 yearcool
jbeast838734about 1 yearSo cool!