Plastic Has Entered Antarctic Terrestrial Food Chain, Researchers Find It In Gut Of Microorganisms

Human activity has pushed the marine ecosystem to the brink with increasing levels of pollution; just recently we learnt that mercury pollution has reached the deepest part of the ocean. A team of scientists identified human-derived methylmercury ¡ª a toxic form of mercury that easily accumulates in some animals ¡ª in fish and crustaceans living in the Mariana trench.

Now again, another study exposes the problems of the ever-growing plastic pollution - researchers have found bits of polystyrene in the gut of tiny, soil-dwelling organisms in the Antarctic.

Biology Letter

They say that the microplastic pollution has now penetrated the world's most remote land-based food systems. This puts other animals including seals, sharks and penguins at risk.

Human activity in the area, including scientific research stations, airport and military facilities, and tourism, have acted to make it "one of the most contaminated regions of Antarctica."

Biology Letters

"Plastics have therefore entered even some of the most remote soil food webs on the planet, with potential risks for the whole biota and ecosystems," said authors of the study, published Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters.

Also Read: Study Claims Plants Absorb Nanoplastics Through Their Roots & That Is A Cause For Concern

In the recent study, microplastics have been discovered in the gut of an animal on a remote island in the Antarctic. It warned this could also be a new stressor for fragile polar ecosystems already facing threats from climate change, reports AFP.

Scientists focused on collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus - small organisms commonly known as springtails that can jump in a similar way to fleas, although they are not classed as insects.

They are among the few organisms adapted to survive in the harsh Antarctic conditions and are "often the dominant species" in the few areas of the region not covered by ice, the study said. They mainly eat micro-algae and lichens.

Biology Letters

Researchers, led by scientists from Italy¡¯s University of Siena, collected the creatures from a chunk of polystyrene foam covered in a green layer of microalgae, moss, and lichens, on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands.

They detected traces of the plastic in the gut of collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticu.

Elisa Bergami of the University of Siena says "Cryptopygus antarcticus has a key role in the simple Antarctic terrestrial food webs. 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."

Bergami called for more research into the potential toxicity of exposure to plastic, which is associated with pathogens, contaminants and antibiotic-resistance.

Also Read: Global Warming: Antarctica Experiences Unprecedented Summer Heatwave

All Inputs AFP