PubMed · 2026-06-02
Scientists used a new imaging technique to track 'forever chemicals' (PFAS) moving through cowpea plants, finding that shorter-chain compounds spread to every part of the plant within 6 hours, while longer-chain ones are physically blocked inside the roots. The work reveals how the plant's own anatomy filters—or fails to filter—different types of these persistent pollutants.
Short-chain PFBS (4-carbon) distributed throughout the entire cowpea plant—roots, stems, and leaves—within just 6 hours of exposure, the fastest translocation of the three compounds tested.
Long-chain PFOS (8-carbon) was physically blocked by the Casparian strip, a waxy band in root endoderm cells, preventing it from entering the plant's water-conducting vascular tissue even after prolonged exposure.
A newly developed gold nanoparticle-coated imaging substrate enabled, for the first time, high-resolution spatial mapping of PFAS distribution across an entire whole plant in cross-section and longitudinally.
