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Fragmentation of Expanded Polystyrene to Microplastics by Wharf Roach Ligia Spp
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Researchers reviewed the environmental presence, transport pathways, and biological impacts of polystyrene microplastics, documenting how widespread food packaging use leads to pervasive contamination of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and raises concerns for organismal and human health.
The Impact of Polystyrene Microplastics in Living Organisms; Environmental and Ecological Concerns
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This review comprehensively examined the environmental and ecological impacts of polystyrene microplastics, which readily adsorb both organic and inorganic pollutants and carry them into living organisms. Polystyrene is one of the most widely produced plastics globally, and its breakdown into microplastics creates particles that act as vectors for toxic chemicals in ecosystems and potentially in human bodies.
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A controlled laboratory study exposed the coastal isopod Ligia cinerascens to expanded polystyrene for up to 14 days, finding no significant shifts in overall gut microbial diversity but detecting enrichment of potentially pathogenic taxa including Clostridium and Vibrio species. These subtle microbial shifts suggest that even brief EPS exposure may create hidden health risks in coastal invertebrates, with potential implications for marine food web dynamics.
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Researchers exposing the freshwater microcrustacean Daphnia similis to polystyrene microspheres found that the organisms reduced particle size by nearly 33% over six days through biofragmentation, demonstrating that zooplankton ingestion is an underappreciated pathway for breaking down microplastics into smaller particles.
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Mealworm larvae consumed and biodegraded expanded polystyrene roughly 50 times faster than adult beetles, with pre-treating EPS with lemon-lime soda increasing biodegradation rates by 482% and supplemental spinach increasing rates by 125%. These findings advance the prospect of using insect gut bacteria as a scalable biological tool for breaking down polystyrene, one of the most persistent and environmentally prevalent microplastic precursors.
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