Nanoplastics can enter edible parts of veggies: Study
A new 2025 study from the University of Plymouth has found that nanoplastics—tiny plastic bits invisible to the eye—can make their way into the edible parts of radishes.
This discovery sheds light on a fresh route for plastic pollution to enter our food.
How the study was conducted
Researchers grew radishes in water with radiolabeled polystyrene nanoplastics for five days.
About 5% of these plastics were retained by the plant, mostly in the non-fleshy roots, and surprisingly, some ended up inside the parts we actually eat: around a quarter of the retained plastics reached the fleshy root, and about 10% made it into the leaves.
This means nanoplastics can sneak past natural plant barriers and stay inside veggies.
What does this mean for us?
The fact that edible plants can absorb and store nanoplastics raises real questions about what ends up on our plates—and in our bodies.
With so much plastic already polluting soil, scientists say more research is needed to understand how much of it gets into different foods and whether it's harmful long-term.
Radishes were chosen for their fast growth
Radishes grow quickly and have big roots, making them perfect for tracking how particles move through plants.
The experiment even showed that nanoplastics can cross protective barriers most substances can't—a finding that could change how we think about food safety in an age of plastic pollution.