LAUSR

Recently, soil contamination with microplastics has emerged as a serious global environmental concern which necessitated more research on their potential impacts on soil biota. In this study, we investigated the acute and chronic toxicity of two different polystyrene (PS) microplastics, pure vs commercial (0-0.5% w/w in soil), with the sizes of 65-125 µm on the earthworm mortality, reproduction and genotoxicity. While the microplastics did not show any acute toxicity in terms of mortality, reproduction was adversely affected in both parents (F0) and first filial generation (F1) of earthworms with >50% reduction in juveniles production at 0.5% microplastics concentration in soil. Also, significant genotoxicity in terms of DNA damage was observed in the F0 and F1 earthworms. Chemical analysis of microplastics exposed soils showed the presence of several benzene derivatives which are associated with polystyrene particles. This study, for the first time, demonstrated the long-term adverse effects of PS microplastics even at environmentally relevant concentrations on the earthworms. Results of this study have significant implications for the risk assessment of PS microplastics to soil biota. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.