The growth responses of Eisenia fetida (Savigny 1826) exposed to microplastics

Abstract

With the increase in the use of plastics around the world, smaller particles called microplastics increase over time in natural environments. Microplastics are potential threatening because they can be consumed involuntarily by organisms. In this study, the effects of microplastics on the growth parameters of soil worms (Eisenia fetida) were investigated. Within this framework, the earthworm groups were fed diet contains <1 mm microplastic grains at the rate of 25% of the total daily requirements of the worms. A group of worms was kept in the polystyrene (PS) environment. Two different microplastics, plastic paint pigment (PBP) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) were used in experiments and the effects of the microplastics on the growth parameters of the worms were observed. The length and weights of worms exposed to PBP, PMMA and PS were measured on the 21^st and 42^nd days in the applications and the 42^nd and 84^th days in the repeat application of PBP. Before the application, E. fetida individuals were fed in tea and purslane medium for 30 days, and the mean length and weights of worms were increased. In PBP, PBP repeat, PMMA and PS applications, a decrease in worms’ weight was observed in the process.

Keywords

• microplastic
• growth
• Length
• Weight
• Eisenia fetida

Eisenia fetida (Savigny 1826)’da mikroplastik maruziyetinin büyüme parametreleri üzerine etkisi

Öz

Dünya üzerinde plastik kullanımının artması ile birlikte zamanla aşınarak mikroplastik adı verilen daha küçük partiküller doğal ortamlarda artış göstermektedir. Mikroplastikler canlılar tarafından istemsizce tüketilebilir boyutlarda olmaları sebebiyle tehdit oluşturmaktadırlar. Bu çalışmada mikroplastiğin toprak solucanlarının (Eisenia fetida) büyüme parametrelerine etkileri araştırılmıştır. Bu çerçevede solucanların diyetine günlük toplam besin gereksinimlerinin %25’i oranında 1mm’den küçük mikroplastik parçacıklar katılmıştır. Bir grup solucan polistiren (PS) ortamına bırakılmıştır. Deneylerde iki farklı mikroplastik, plastik boya pigmenti (PBP) ve polimetilmetakrilat (PMMA) kullanılmış ve toprak solucanlarının büyüme parametreleri üzerine etkileri gözlenmiştir. Toprak solucanlarının PBP, PMMA ve PS uygulamalarında 21. ve 42., PBP tekrar uygulamasında 42. ve 84. günlerindeki boy ve ağırlıkları ölçülmüştür. Uygulama öncesinde E. fetida bireyleri çay ve semizotu ortamında 30 gün boyunca beslenmiş, boy ve ağırlıklarında artış gözlenmiştir. PBP, PBP tekrar, PMMA ve PS uygulamalarında süreçte solucanların ağırlığına bir azalma gözlenmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Mikroplastik
• Büyüme
• Boy
• Ağırlık
• Eisenia fetida

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