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Supplemental data for: Toxicity and behavioral responses of environmentally relevant microplastics in earthworms (Eisenia fetida): Ingestion, survival, reproduction, and avoidance across common polymer types
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This dataset contains raw experimental data on how various microplastic polymer types affect earthworm ingestion, survival, reproduction, and avoidance behavior across ecologically relevant exposure conditions. Earthworms are critical soil ecosystem engineers, so establishing how common microplastics disrupt their health and behavior directly informs our understanding of plastic pollution's impact on terrestrial soil health.
This dataset contains raw data from the study titled "Toxicity and Behavioral Responses of Environmentally Relevant Microplastics in Earthworms (Eisenia fetida): Ingestion, Survival, Reproduction, and Avoidance Across Common Polymer Types". It includes measurements of earthworm ingestion, survival, reproduction, and avoidance responses when exposed to various common microplastic polymer types.
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Toxicity and behavioral responses of environmentally relevant microplastics in earthworms ( Eisenia fetida ): Ingestion, survival, reproduction, and avoidance across common polymer types
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Scientists tested how earthworms respond to microplastic pollution in soil, and found that even at high plastic levels, the worms didn't avoid contaminated soil, didn't get sick, reproduced normally, and barely absorbed the plastic particles into their bodies. This is good news for soil health and the food chain, since earthworms are key to healthy dirt and crops—but it doesn't mean microplastics are harmless overall, just that this particular worm species seems resilient to them under the tested conditions.
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Scientists tested how polyethylene microplastics in agricultural soil affected the behavior, body mass, and survival of the earthworm Eisenia fetida. Researchers found that earthworms actively avoided soil contaminated with microplastics and experienced changes in biomass at higher concentrations. The study suggests that microplastic pollution in farmland could negatively affect soil-dwelling organisms that play a key role in maintaining soil health.
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