Scientists find polystyrene fragments in guts of soil-dwelling organisms in Antarctica

In a shocking observation, on June 24, scientists from University of Siena, Italy and the University College Dublin, Ireland discovered that microplastics reached the most remote regions of the planet after it was found ingested by the small organisms common and central component of Antarctic terrestrial food webs living in the soil in Antarctica. Published in the scientific journal Biology Letters, the study found that the polystyrene fragments travelled to Antarctic terrestrial food webs after large pieces were discovered in species collembolan Cryptopygus Antarcticus, a small Antarctic soil invertebrate. 

Plastic pollution has become an overwhelming environmental issue on a global scale, said the authors of the study, adding, plastics are entering the short Antarctic terrestrial food webs and represent a new potential stressor to polar ecosystems already facing climate change and increasing human activities.

Scientists conducted the bench-scale experiments to observe the impact of floating or stranded macroplastics that dated back to the 1980s. As per the published research, the plastic debris on Antarctic biota mainly included entanglement and ingestion by marine mammals and seabirds at sub-Antarctic and Antarctic islands. Soil microarthropods, such as Antarctic mites and collembolans on King George Island (South Shetland Islands) digested these fragments of plastic that entered the Antarctic food web.  

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Infrared microscopy (µ-FTIR) analysis

Using the Fourier transform infrared microscopy (µ-FTIR) analysis, scientists detected trace amounts of plastic which was ingested by the soil microarthropods, thereby, entering most remote soil food webs on the planet, as per the study. This imposed potential risks for the whole biota and ecosystems. According to the published research, these organisms have been the "dominant species" in areas of Antarctica that are not covered by ice, and they typically feed on lichens and micro-algae. Scientists found that springtails may have consumed the plastic may have already "deeply" infiltrated Antarctica's remote land-based food system.  

Elisa Bergami of the University of Siena was quoted saying that the implications of plastic ingestion by this species include the potential redistribution of microplastics through the soil profile and transfer to their common predators, the moss mites. Further, she added, the research shows that Antarctica's land contamination has been ignored or paid less attention to and plastic pollution in the region could stress Antarctica's fragile ecosystem, as per a report.  

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(All Images Credit: Biology Letters Journal)