Microplastics and Dechlorane Plus co-exposure amplifies their impacts on soybean plant

Yu Xie; Junzhe Zhang; Yaping Lyu; Yaqi Jiang; Yi Sun; Ziqi Zhang; Haojie Wei; Xingxin Liu; Yukui Rui; Wenlong Yang; Peng Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2025.125638

Microplastics and Dechlorane Plus co-exposure amplifies their impacts on soybean plant

Environ Pollut. 2025 Jan 3:125638. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2025.125638. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yu Xie¹, Junzhe Zhang², Yaping Lyu¹, Yaqi Jiang³, Yi Sun³, Ziqi Zhang¹, Haojie Wei¹, Xingxin Liu¹, Yukui Rui⁴, Wenlong Yang⁵, Peng Zhang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
² State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-di Herbs, Artemisinin Research Center, and Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
³ Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Farmland Soil Pollution Prevention and Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100093, China.
⁴ Beijing Key Laboratory of Farmland Soil Pollution Prevention and Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100093, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory for Dioxin Pollution Control of MEE, National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurement, Beijing 100029, China. Electronic address: ywlpops@126.com.
⁶ Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. Electronic address: zhangpeng1987@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 39756564
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2025.125638

Abstract

The co-existence of microplastics (MPs) and organic pollutants on agricultural ecosystems pose potential implications for both food safety and environmental integrity. The combined effects of MPs with Dechlorane Plus (DP), a newly listed banned flame retardant, remain unknown. This study explores the biological responses of soybean plants to exposure from polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) MPs and DP. Results showed that combined exposure altered the activity of antioxidant enzymes and inhibited the growth of soybean plants, compared with DP or MPs exposure alone. DP markedly reduced both the root length and root weight of soybean plants in a dose-dependent manner. Proteomics profiling suggests that PE interacts with protein translation and modification pathways, particularly via the regulation of heat shock protein binding. High concentration DP (HDP) treatment group enhances the plant's stress resistance by regulating relevant proteins through the modulation of hydrogen peroxide catabolic protein expression and the formation of water channel proteins. In the combined treatments, low concentration DP with PVC triggered increased protein expression related to photosynthesis response, further demonstrating the enhanced inhibitory effects. This study for the first time maps the changes in the physiological and the molecular mechanisms of the impacts on higher plant caused by MPs and DP co-exposure.

Keywords: Agricultural Crops; Dechlorane Plus; Environmental Fate; Microplastics; Phyto-toxicity; Proteomics.