Dataset Information

Field evidence for transfer of plastic debris along a terrestrial food chain.

ABSTRACT: Although plastic pollution happens globally, the micro- (<5 mm) and macroplastic (5-150 mm) transfer of plastic to terrestrial species relevant to human consumption has not been examined. We provide first-time evidence for micro- and macroplastic transfer from soil to chickens in traditional Mayan home gardens in Southeast Mexico where waste mismanagement is common. We assessed micro- and macroplastic in soil, earthworm casts, chicken feces, crops and gizzards (used for human consumption). Microplastic concentrations increased from soil (0.87?±?1.9 particles g-1), to earthworm casts (14.8?±?28.8 particles g-1), to chicken feces (129.8?±?82.3 particles g-1). Chicken gizzards contained 10.2?±?13.8 microplastic particles, while no microplastic was found in crops. An average of 45.82?±?42.6 macroplastic particles were found per gizzard and 11?±?15.3 macroplastic particles per crop, with 1-10 mm particles being significantly more abundant per gizzard (31.8?±?27.27 particles) compared to the crop (1?±?2.2 particles). The data show that micro- and macroplastic are capable of entering terrestrial food webs.

SUBMITTER: Huerta Lwanga E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5658418 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Field evidence for transfer of plastic debris along a terrestrial food chain.

Huerta Lwanga Esperanza E Mendoza Vega Jorge J Ku Quej Victor V Chi Jesus de Los Angeles JLA Sanchez Del Cid Lucero L Chi Cesar C Escalona Segura Griselda G Gertsen Henny H Salánki Tamás T van der Ploeg Martine M Koelmans Albert A AA Geissen Violette V

Scientific reports 20171026 1

Although plastic pollution happens globally, the micro- (<5 mm) and macroplastic (5-150 mm) transfer of plastic to terrestrial species relevant to human consumption has not been examined. We provide first-time evidence for micro- and macroplastic transfer from soil to chickens in traditional Mayan home gardens in Southeast Mexico where waste mismanagement is common. We assessed micro- and macroplastic in soil, earthworm casts, chicken feces, crops and gizzards (used for human consumption). Micro ...[more]

PMID: 29074893

Similar Datasets

Project description:Abstract Aquatic and their adjacent terrestrial ecosystems are linked via the flux of organic and inorganic matter. Emergent aquatic insects are recognized as high‐quality food for terrestrial predators, because they provide more physiologically relevant long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) than terrestrial insects. The effects of dietary PUFA on terrestrial predators have been explored mainly in feeding trials conducted under controlled laboratory conditions, hampering the assessment of the ecological relevance of dietary PUFA deficiencies under field conditions. We assessed the PUFA transfer across the aquatic–terrestrial interface and the consequences for terrestrial riparian predators in two outdoor microcosm experiments. We established simplified tritrophic food chains, consisting of one of four basic food sources, an intermediary collector gatherer (Chironomus riparius, Chironomidae), and a riparian web‐building spider (Tetragnatha sp.). The four basic food sources (algae, conditioned leaves, oatmeal, and fish food) differed in PUFA profiles and were used to track the trophic transfer of single PUFA along the food chain and to assess their potential effects on spiders, that is, on fresh weight, body condition (size‐controlled measurement of nutritional status), and immune response. The PUFA profiles of the basic food sources, C. riparius and spiders differed between treatments, except for spiders in the second experiment. The PUFA α‐linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n‐3) and ɣ‐linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3n‐6) were major contributors to the differences between treatments. PUFA profiles of the basic food sources influenced the fresh weight and body condition of spiders in the first experiment, but not in the second experiment, and did not affect the immune response, growth rate, and dry weight in both experiments. Furthermore, our results indicate that the examined responses are dependent on temperature. Future studies including anthropogenic stressors would deepen our understanding of the transfer and role of PUFA in ecosystems. Aquatic and their adjacent terrestrial ecosystems are linked via the flux of organic and inorganic matter. We assessed the PUFA transfer across the aquatic‐terrestrial interface and the consequences for terrestrial riparian predators in outdoor microcosm experiments. We established simplified tritrophic food chains, consisting one basic food source, an intermediary collector gatherer (Chironomus riparius, Chironomidae), and a riparian web‐building spider (Tetragnatha sp.). The four basic food sources (algae, conditioned leaves, oatmeal, fish food) differed in PUFA profiles and were used to track the trophic transfer of single PUFA along the food chain and to assess their potential effects on spiders.

Project description:BackgroundAgricultural plastic mulches offer great benefits such as higher yields and lower pesticide use. Yet, plastic mulches may disintegrate over time and fragment into smaller debris. Such plastic debris is expected to remain in the field after removal of the plastic mulch and thus contributes to soil contamination with plastics.MethodTo investigate this, we collected soil samples at 0-10 cm and 10-40 cm depth from three fields covered with black mulch film for three consecutive years. Three fields without any reported plastic use served as control. Visual plastic debris > 1 cm (macroplastics) was collected from the soil surface. Mesoplastics between 2 mm and 1 cm were density separated from the sampled soil using saturated NaCl solution and analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Debris ≤ 2 mm (microplastics) was dispersed from 50 g soil using sodium hexametaphosphate solution followed by the aforementioned density separation. The separated polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) were quantified via solvent-based pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS).ResultsWith 89-206 fragments ha-1, the majority of macroplastics were located in fields previously covered with mulch films. 80% of the collected specimen were identified as black PE film. The number of mesoplastics in plastic-mulched soil was 2.3 particles kg-1, while only 1.0 particles kg-1 were found in the reference fields. Py-GC/MS revealed microplastic levels of up to 13 mg kg-1. The PE content was significantly higher in plastic-mulched fields than in reference fields.DiscussionAlthough the identified plastic levels are lower than those reported in comparable studies, our results still suggest that plastic mulching functions as a source of plastic debris in agricultural systems. Due to its severely restricted degradability, these plastics are likely to accumulate in soil in the long term and further fragment into smaller and smaller debris.

Dataset Information

Field evidence for transfer of plastic debris along a terrestrial food chain.

Publications

Field evidence for transfer of plastic debris along a terrestrial food chain.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets