Airborne PET nanoplastics alter tobacco’s chemical risk
- Miao-Miao Tan
- Xiao-Dong Sun
- Yue Wang
- Jian-Lu Duan
- Jing-Ya Ma
- Xiao-Yu Liu
- Mei-Yan Liu
- Yu-Chen Sun
- Rong-Xiang Xing
- Shu-Guang Wang
- Wei Chen
- Xian-Zheng Yuan
2025-12-18
Atmospheric micro(nano)plastics (MNPs), including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), enter plants via leaves, accumulating in tissues. Foliar PET nanoplastic exposure alters Nicotiana benthamiana nicotine biosynthesis, favoring the more potent (S)-isomer even without growth inhibition. This accumulation reveals a contamination pathway for combustible consumer products, demonstrating that MNPs-induced alteration of a plant’s endogenous biochemistry represents a significant and previously uncharacterized risk to agricultural sustainability and human health.