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Individual vs. Combined Short-Term Effects of Soil Pollutants on Colony Founding in a Common Ant Species
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Individual and combined exposure of ant colonies to soil pollutants -- including microplastics -- during colony founding phase showed that combined exposures had non-additive effects on colony establishment success, with implications for understanding how pollutant mixtures contribute to insect decline.
Insects are integral to terrestrial life and provide essential ecosystem functions such as pollination and nutrient cycling. Due to massive declines in insect biomass, abundance, or species richness in recent years, the focus has turned to find their causes. Anthropogenic pollution is among the main drivers of insect declines. Research addressing the effects of pollutants concentrates on aquatic insects and pollinators, despite the apparent risk of contaminated soils. Pollutants accumulating in the soil might pose a significant threat because concentrations tend to be high and different pollutants are present simultaneously. Here, we exposed queens of the black garden ant Lasius niger at the colony founding stage to different concentrations and combinations of pollutants (brake dust, soot, microplastic particles and fibers, manure) to determine dose-dependent effects and interactions between stressors. As proxies for colony founding success, we measured queen survival, the development time of the different life stages, the brood weight, and the number of offspring. Over the course of the experiment queen mortality was very low and similar across treatments. Only high manure concentrations affected the colony founding success. Eggs from queens exposed to high manure concentrations took longer to hatch, which resulted in a delayed emergence of workers. Also, fewer pupae and workers were raised by those queens. Brake dust, soot and plastic particles did not visibly affect colony founding success, neither as single nor as multiple stressors. The application of manure, however, affected colony founding in L. niger negatively underlining the issue of excessive manure application to our environment. Even though anthropogenic soil pollutants seem to have little short-term effects on ant colony founding, studies will have to elucidate potential long-term effects as a colony grows.
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Comparison of fitness effects in the earthworm Eisenia fetida after exposure to single or multiple anthropogenic pollutants
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Researchers compared single and combined pollutant exposures on the earthworm Eisenia fetida, finding that mixtures of pesticides, heavy metals, particulate matter, and microplastics can produce synergistic negative effects on survival and reproduction beyond individual pollutant impacts.
Comparison of fitness effects in the earthworm Eisenia fetida after exposure to single or multiple anthropogenic pollutants
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Researchers exposed earthworms (Eisenia fetida) to single and combined anthropogenic pollutants including pesticides, heavy metals, and microplastics in a factorial design, finding that exposure to multiple pollutants simultaneously produced synergistic negative effects on earthworm fitness beyond what individual pollutant exposures predicted.
Single and combined chronic toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNP) and clothianidin on collembolans and enchytraeids
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Scientists tested how tiny plastic particles and a common pesticide affect soil creatures that are important for healthy ecosystems. They found that when these two pollutants are combined, they become more harmful than when alone - even at levels that seemed safe individually. This matters because humans are also exposed to both microplastics and pesticides in our food and environment, suggesting these combinations could pose greater health risks than we previously understood.
Combined pollution of soil by heavy metals, microplastics, and pesticides: Mechanisms and anthropogenic drivers
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This study investigated how heavy metals, microplastics, and pesticides interact when they contaminate soil together, finding that their combined effects are complex and often worse than any single pollutant. Microplastics can absorb and concentrate both heavy metals and pesticides, changing how these chemicals move through soil and into plants. The findings highlight how agricultural soils contaminated with multiple pollutants could increase human exposure through crops grown in that soil.
Co-Exposure of Nanopolystyrene and Other Environmental Contaminants—Their Toxic Effects on the Survival and Reproduction of Enchytraeus crypticus
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This study tested the combined toxicity of nanopolystyrene particles alongside pharmaceuticals, metals, and engineered nanomaterials on the soil worm Enchytraeus crypticus, finding that co-exposure often amplified harm to survival and reproduction beyond that of each pollutant alone. The results highlight that real-world mixtures of plastic and chemical contaminants pose greater ecological risks than single-substance assessments suggest.
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