Preliminary study of the effects of microplastics on soil arthropod ecology
2019
Lit, I.L., Jr | Bariring, A.A.T. | Huet, A.M.O. | Jimenez, J.R.D. | Pancho, U.Z.
Microplastics are small pieces of plastics 0.33-5.00 mm long. They range from micro beads used in personal care products and pre-production pellets and powders to fibers from synthetic clothing and fragments degraded from larger plastic products. They have become ubiquitous in environment today, but most studies on them tend to focus on marine ecosystems, their effects on marine organisms, and how plastic pollution in marine environments eventually lead back to humans. Only a few have studied their presence and distribution in terrestrial ecosystems and their effect on the soil and soil organisms. Preliminary study gathered 1-liter soil samples from selected areas on the lower slopes of Mount Makiling and in UPLB [University of the Philippines Los Baños] Campus. Each soil sample was dissolved in a gallon of tap water and the resulting floating debris after settling were examined and sorted. Microplastics from the rural site (near households) accounted for 96.15% of the total samples found, of which 69.23% were from synthetic textile fibers, 15.38% from beads or Styrofoam, and 11.54% assorted plastic fragments. Initial dissections also showed the presence of microplastics in guts of cockroaches, earthworms, beetles, and maggots.
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