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Biodegradation and disintegration of expanded polystyrene by land snails Achatina fulica

The Science of The Total Environment 2020 227 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 55 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Defu He, Defu He, Jiani Hu, Defu He, Yingxin Chen, Xinyu Li, Jiani Hu, Yingxin Chen, Xinyu Li, Defu He, Jiani Hu, Rongliang Qiu, Xiaoting Zhang, Xiaoting Zhang, Xiaoting Zhang, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Yang Song, Yang Song, Yang Song, Wei‐Min Wu Xiaoting Zhang, Defu He, Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu Yang Song, Yang Song, Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Yingxin Chen, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Xiaoting Zhang, Xiaoting Zhang, Yang Song, Xiaoting Zhang, Rongliang Qiu, Rongliang Qiu, Jiani Hu, Yang Song, Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu Yang Song, Yang Song, Xiaoting Zhang, Jiani Hu, Xiaoting Zhang, Defu He, Defu He, Yang Song, Jiani Hu, Yang Song, Xiaoting Zhang, Defu He, Defu He, Rongliang Qiu, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Yingxin Chen, Xinyu Li, Yang Song, Wei‐Min Wu Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Rongliang Qiu, Wei‐Min Wu Jiani Hu, Wei‐Min Wu Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Defu He, Jiani Hu, Jiani Hu, Rongliang Qiu, Rongliang Qiu, Xiaoting Zhang, Xinyu Li, Xinyu Li, Rongliang Qiu, Rongliang Qiu, Defu He, Yingxin Chen, Jiani Hu, Wei‐Min Wu Jiani Hu, Jiani Hu, Defu He, Defu He, Yang Song, Yingxin Chen, Wei‐Min Wu Yang Song, Defu He, Xinyu Li, Rongliang Qiu, Yingxin Chen, Yang Song, Xinyu Li, Xiaoting Zhang, Yang Song, Defu He, Defu He, Yingxin Chen, Rongliang Qiu, Xiaoting Zhang, Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Defu He, Defu He, Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Rongliang Qiu, Rongliang Qiu, Rongliang Qiu, Rongliang Qiu, Wei‐Min Wu Rongliang Qiu, Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Defu He, Rongliang Qiu, Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Defu He, Defu He, Rongliang Qiu, Defu He, Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Rongliang Qiu, Defu He, Defu He, Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Wei‐Min Wu Rongliang Qiu, Wei‐Min Wu Defu He, Defu He, Defu He, Wei‐Min Wu

Summary

Researchers found that the land snail Achatina fulica can ingest expanded polystyrene foam and break it down, with each snail consuming about 18.5 mg over four weeks and achieving a 30.7% mass reduction in egested particles. Chemical analysis confirmed partial biodegradation with the formation of oxidized intermediate compounds, and the snails' gut microbiome shifted significantly after polystyrene ingestion. The study suggests that soil invertebrates like land snails may play a meaningful role in the environmental fate and partial breakdown of polystyrene plastic pollution.

Polymers

Despite increasing evidence of widespread plastic pollution in soil, it remains largely unknown about the fate of plastic influenced by soil animals. In this study, ingestion and biodegradation capability of expanded polystyrene (PS) foam was investigated in a globally distributed soil invertebrate, Achatina fulica. After 4-week exposure, 18.5 ± 2.9 mg polystyrene was ingested per snail, and egested microplastics (1.343 ± 0.625 mm) in feces with significant mass loss of mean 30.7%. Gel permeation chromatography analysis indicated a significant increase in weight-average molecular weight (M) and number-average molecular weight (M) of feces-residual PS, indicating limited extent depolymerization. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance confirmed the formation of functional groups of oxidized intermediates. Suppression of gut microbes with oxytetracycline did not affect the depolymerization, indicating the independence of gut microbes. High-throughput sequencing analysis revealed significant shifts in the gut microbiome after ingestion of PS, with an increase of family Enterobacteriaceae, Sphingobacteriaceae, and Aeromonadaceae, suggesting that gut microorganisms were associated with PS biodegradation. These findings suggest that plastic litter can be disintegrated into microplastics and partially biodegraded by A. fulica, which highlights the significance of soil animals for the fate of plastic and its biodegradation in soil environments.

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