Ecotoxicological effects of different size ranges of industrial-grade polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics on earthworms Eisenia fetida

The effects of microplastics (MPs) on terrestrial organisms remain poorly understood, even though soil is an important MPs sink. In this study, the earthworms Eisenia fetida were exposed to 0.25% (w/w) of industrial-grade high-density polyethylene (HDPE, 28-145, 133-415 and 400-1464 mu m) and polypropylene (PP, 8-125, 71-383 and 761-1660 mu m) MPs in an agricultural soil for 28 d. The results showed that HDPE and PP MPs with different size ranges can be ingested by E. fetida. Exposure to different size ranges of HDPE and PP MPs altered the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione S-transferase and induced an increase in the 8-hydroxy-2 '-deoxyguanosine level in E. fetida, suggesting that MPs-induced oxidative stress occurred in E. fetida. A size and type-dependent toxicity of MPs to E. fetida was demonstrated by the integrated biological response index. In addition, to obtain detailed molecular information on the responses of E. fetida to MPs exposure, transcriptomic analysis was conducted for E. fetida from HDPE (28-145 mu m) and PP (8-125 mu m) treatment groups. Transcriptomic analysis identified 34,937 and 28,494 differentially expressed genes in the HDPE and PP MPs treatments compared with the control, respectively. And, exposure to HDPE and PP MPs significantly disturbed several pathways closely related to neurodegeneration, oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in E. fetida. This study provides important information for the ecological risk assessment of different size ranges and types of industrial-grade MPs. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study found that microplastics in soil have a negative impact on earthworms, causing oxidative stress responses. Microplastics of different sizes and types can affect the biological activity and gene expression of earthworms and disturb pathways related to neurodegenerative diseases, oxidative stress, and inflammatory responses.