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Effects of environmentally relevant mixtures of microplastics on terrestrial organisms
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This study evaluated the effects of environmentally relevant microplastic mixtures on two soil model organisms, the earthworm Eisenia andrei and the springtail Folsomia candida, addressing the gap in knowledge about mixture effects at realistic environmental concentrations. Microplastic mixtures caused measurable effects on both soil organisms, with combined exposures producing different outcomes than single-polymer studies suggest.
Soils are considered important sinks for microplastics (MPs), however, little is known about the effects of environmentally relevant mixtures of MPs on soil biota. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a mixture of MPs on two soil model organisms, the earthworm Eisenia andrei and the springtail Folsomia candida. For this, high density polythylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) fragments (50-845 µm) were generated from recycled plastic pellets, and polyester (PES) fibres (50-3887 µm). Chronic toxicity tests were conducted following the OECD guidelines 222 and 232 for earthworms and springtails, respectively, using LUFA 2.2 natural standard soil. The organisms were exposed to a mixture of 55 Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/558962/document
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