Thread by @samdknowlton

Microplastic pollution is disrupting photosynthesis across ecosystems and cropland, threatening our food security in ways we've drastically underestimated.

These invisible particles degrade our soils and undermine the biological foundation of our food system...🧵

Microplastics physically block sunlight on leaf surfaces, disrupt internal nutrient transport pathways, release adsorbed toxins into plant tissues, and induce oxidative stress—collectively degrading photosynthetic efficiency at cellular levels.

Microplastic particles in soil and water reduce plants' ability to convert sunlight to energy by 7-12% and decrease the green pigment plants need for this process by 11-13%.

This damage affects everything from crop fields to marine algae.

Food production data translates this into agricultural yields.

We're losing 109-360 MILLION metric tons of crops annually.

This massive reduction represents enough food to feed hundreds of millions of people and constitutes 4-14% of global staple crop production.

Agriculture exists in a paradoxical relationship with microplastics—both victim and vector.

Recent UK soil sampling found agricultural soils contain 1,320-8,190 microplastic particles per kg, with significantly higher concentrations where plastic crop covers were used.

Plastics used to increase yields (mulches, covers, polytunnels) degrade into microplastics that subsequently reduce those same yields through photosynthetic interference—creating a classic ecological trap in agricultural systems.

To ensure an abundant and healthy food supply, reducing and remediating plastic pollution needs to become a priority in agricultural and environmental policies.

Until then, microplastics are undermining the most fundamental biological process that sustains crop productivity.