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Biodegradable polymers boost reproduction in the earthworm Eisenia fetida
The Science of The Total Environment2023
38 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 60
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Linda Hink,
Anja Holzinger,
Alfons R. Weig,
Linda Hink,
Anja Holzinger,
Elmar Sehl,
Linda Hink,
Anja Holzinger,
Linda Hink,
Anja Holzinger,
Seema Agarwal,
Anja Holzinger,
Seema Agarwal,
Linda Hink,
Elmar Sehl,
Linda Hink,
Linda Hink,
Linda Hink,
Eva Lehndorff,
Eva Lehndorff,
Alfons R. Weig,
Elmar Sehl,
Heike Feldhaar,
Seema Agarwal,
Anja Holzinger,
Seema Agarwal,
Anja Holzinger,
Anja Holzinger,
Seema Agarwal,
Elmar Sehl,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Alfons R. Weig,
Linda Hink,
Linda Hink,
Linda Hink,
Heike Feldhaar,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Heike Feldhaar,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Anja Holzinger,
Anja Holzinger,
Anja Holzinger,
Nadine Rüppel,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Anja Holzinger,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Nadine Rüppel,
Nadine Rüppel,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Elmar Sehl,
Nadine Rüppel,
Marcus A. Horn
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Marcus A. Horn
Alfons R. Weig,
Seema Agarwal,
Marcus A. Horn
Marcus A. Horn
Eva Lehndorff,
Eva Lehndorff,
Seema Agarwal,
Eva Lehndorff,
Marcus A. Horn
Seema Agarwal,
Marcus A. Horn
Heike Feldhaar,
Marcus A. Horn
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Marcus A. Horn
Marcus A. Horn
Marcus A. Horn
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Heike Feldhaar,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Heike Feldhaar,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Eva Lehndorff,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Marcus A. Horn
Heike Feldhaar,
Marcus A. Horn
Anja Holzinger,
Seema Agarwal,
Anja Holzinger,
Seema Agarwal,
Seema Agarwal,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Anja Holzinger,
Eva Lehndorff,
Seema Agarwal,
Marcus A. Horn
Marcus A. Horn
Marcus A. Horn
Marcus A. Horn
Marcus A. Horn
Heike Feldhaar,
Marcus A. Horn
Seema Agarwal,
Marcus A. Horn
Marcus A. Horn
Heike Feldhaar,
Seema Agarwal,
Marcus A. Horn
Heike Feldhaar,
Seema Agarwal,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Marcus A. Horn
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Heike Feldhaar,
Eva Lehndorff,
Heike Feldhaar,
Marcus A. Horn
Summary
This study compared how conventional plastics and biodegradable polymers affect earthworms in soil. Surprisingly, biodegradable plastics like PLA and PBAT boosted earthworm reproduction, likely because soil microbes can partially break them down into usable carbon sources. However, conventional plastics like polystyrene and PET had neutral to negative effects, highlighting that not all microplastics impact soil organisms the same way.
Microplastic contamination in soil has become a global environmental threat as it adversely affects terrestrial organisms like earthworms as well as soil properties. Especially biodegradable polymers have recently been used as an alternative to conventional polymer types, although their impact remains poorly understood. Thus, we studied the effect of conventional (polystyrene: PS, polyethylene terephthalate: PET, polypropylene: PP) versus aliphatic polyesters classified as biodegradable polymers (poly-(l-lactide): PLLA, polycaprolactone: PCL) on the earthworm Eisenia fetida and soil properties (pH and cation exchange capacity). We addressed direct effects on the weight gain and reproductive success of E. fetida, and indirect effects, like changes in the gut microbial composition as well as the production of short-chain fatty acids by the gut microbiota. Earthworms were exposed for eight weeks in an artificial soil amended with two environmentally relevant concentrations (1 % and 2.5 % (w/w)) of the different microplastic types. PLLA and PCL boosted the number of cocoons produced by 135 % and 54 %, respectively. Additionally, exposure to these two polymers increased number of hatched juveniles, changed gut microbial beta-diversity, and increased the production of the short chain fatty acid lactate compared to the control treatments. Interestingly, we also found a positive effect of PP on the earthworm's bodyweight and reproductive success. The interaction of microplastic and earthworms decreased soil pH by about 1.5 units in the presence of PLLA and PCL. No polymer effect on the cation exchange capacity of soil was found. In general, neither the presence of conventional nor biodegradable polymers had any adverse effects on any of the studied endpoints. Our results suggest that the effects of microplastic highly depend on the polymer type, and that the degradation of biodegradable polymers might be enhanced in the gut of earthworms, which implies that they may use biodegradable polymers as a potential carbon source.