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Effects of agricultural microplastics in multigenerational tests with insects; mealworms Tenebrio molitor

The Science of The Total Environment 2024 16 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 60 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Ana Nagode, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Ana Nagode, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Ana Nagode, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Ana Nagode, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Ana Nagode, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Ana Nagode, Ana Nagode, Ana Nagode, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Anita Jemec Kokalj, Damjana Drobne Andraž Dolar, Andraž Dolar, Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne Damjana Drobne

Summary

Researchers tested the effects of microplastics from agricultural mulch films on two generations of mealworms and found that only very high concentrations (5% of food weight) affected growth and molting. At concentrations closer to what is actually found in the environment, no significant effects were observed. While this suggests low immediate risk to soil invertebrates, the study only looked at two generations, and long-term effects in real farm conditions remain unknown.

Polymers

LDPE PE

Mulching films, widely used in agriculture, are a large source of microplastics (MPs) to soil. However, there is little knowledge on the long-term effects of agricultural MPs on soil invertebrates. We investigated the effects of MPs from conventional non-biodegradable, fossil-based, low-density polyethylene (PE) and biodegradable fossil-based poly(butylene adipate-coterephthalate) (starch-PBAT blend) mulching films on two generations of the mealworm Tenebrio molitor. No effects of MPs (0.005 %-5 %, w/w dry food) on mealworm development and survival were observed until the end of the experiments (12 weeks for the first generation, nine weeks for the second generation), but effects on their moulting and growth were observed. These were most evident for PE MPs (5 %, w/w), where a decrease in larval growth and moulting was noted in the first generation. On the contrary, PBAT MPs (5 %, w/w) significantly induced the growth of mealworms in the second generation. In addition, there was a non-significant trend towards increased growth at all other PBAT MP exposure concentrations. Increased growth is most likely due to the biodegradation of starch PBAT MPs by mealworms. Overall, these data suggest that PE and PBAT MPs do not induce significant effects on mealworms at environmentally relevant concentrations, but rather only at very high exposure concentrations (5 %).

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