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Effects of Black Soldier Fly Frass Containing Biodegradable Microplastics on the Plant-Soil-Microbial System
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A pot experiment found that black soldier fly frass containing biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics altered soil respiration and root biomass in soybean and wheat, with effects concentrated in bulk soil rather than the rhizosphere. This raises concerns that using insect frass as a fertilizer—while otherwise sustainable—may inadvertently introduce biodegradable microplastics that disrupt soil microbial dynamics and nutrient cycling.
Utilization of black soldier fly to dispose of food waste stream bioplastics results in frass with biodegradable microplastics that may alter soil nutrient cycling and reduce the commercial value of frass. However, the impacts of frass with biodegradable microplastics on microbial community consumption of root exudates and plant growth are poorly characterized. Utilizing a pot experiment, Glycine max and Triticum aestivum were grown in soil amended with black soldier fly frass at two concentrations from flies fed solely food waste or food waste containing 25% (w/w) polylactic acid microplastics. Plants were grown in controlled conditions for eight weeks with sub-irrigation. At maturity, pots were harvested for plant biomass, and bulk plus rhizosphere soil was probed for changes in root exudate induced respiration. Frass with and without biodegradable microplastics generally lowered bulk and rhizosphere soil moisture and increased root biomass up to > 200%. Soil respiration rates were generally higher in the frass only and frass plus biodegradable microplastics treatments. Substrate induced respiration indicated the frass plus biodegradable microplastics treatments had the largest effect on bulk rather than rhizosphere soil for both species. Principal component analysis indicated frass concentration had the stronger influence on per treatment principal component scores and that frass plus biodegradable microplastics were statistically significant relative to frass without bioplastics of the same concentration. Biodegradable microplastics in black soldier fly frass altered the soil and induced positive responses in roots and the microbial community consumption of root exudates.
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Researchers reviewed how soil microbiomes interact with microplastics in agricultural settings, finding that microbial communities offer biodegradation and remediation potential, though intensive plastic use in farming combined with fertilizer and wastewater inputs continuously introduces microplastics into soils with implications for soil health.
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This comprehensive review synthesizes evidence that microplastics alter soil physical structure, chemical properties including pH and nutrient cycling, and the communities of earthworms, collembolans, and microbes that maintain soil health, with cascading effects on plant growth and agricultural productivity. Because healthy soils underpin global food production, microplastic-driven degradation of soil ecosystems represents a long-term threat to food security and introduces a terrestrial route by which plastic contaminants accumulate in crops consumed by humans.
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This review synthesized evidence on microplastic contamination in terrestrial soil-plant systems, examining effects on soil structure, nutrient cycling, microbial communities, and plant uptake of plastic particles. Because plants can absorb microplastics and translocate them into edible tissue, agricultural soil contamination represents a direct and underappreciated pathway of human dietary exposure to plastic particles.
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