Assessing the impacts of microplastics on soil meso- and macro-fauna

The impacts of microplastics (MiPs) on soil biota and hence soil health have been understudied and require urgent attention in order to design more appropriate policies that ensure a healthy soil. Earlier studies have indicated that MiPs result in reduced growth and reproduction and increasing mortality of earthworms (one species) and collembolans. Our work will utilize these results and extend the understanding of MiP impacts to other key invertebrate groups, such as earthworms (macrofauna) and mites and collembolans (mesofauna), to gain a better understanding of impacts on a more functionally diverse and more realistic soil community. We will also develop ecotoxicology tests in the laboratory to provide risk assessment levels of MiPs to soil organisms. Moreover, we will conduct long-term field trials to determine lifetime, horizontal and vertical movement as well as sequestration (inside aggregates) of MiP when deposited on the soil surface.