With concern growing regarding the impact of microplastics (MPs) on terrestrial ecosystems, it is important to assess the role invertebrates may play in the fate of MPs within these ecosystems. Commonly, MPs enter these environments through improperly discarded waste or the application of treated biosolids and/or wastewater on agricultural soils. The present study investigated whether three species of terrestrial isopod (Porcellio scaber, Porcellio laevis, and Porcellionides pruinosus) ingest plastic debris and generate MPs during exposures varying from 24 h to 14 days and whether this may have an adverse effect on their health. Test vessels were designed to expose isopods to plastic fragments in the form of polyethylene plastic foam. Isopods were exposed to plastic that was either (1) pristine, or (2) weathered in a soil and water solution prior to incorporation in test vessels. When exposed to weathered polyethylene, all three species generated MPs (minimum–maximum size values for all durations inclusive: P. laevis = 114–1673 µm, P. scaber = 99–1635 µm, P. pruinosus = 85–1113 µm) through the consumption of macroplastic fragments with no observed impact on their health. In the shorter-duration exposures, the number of MPs generated by the isopod species in the present study was highly variable between experimental vessels (minimum–maximum generated MPs for 14-day exposure: P. laevis = 25–420, P. scaber = 50–583, P. pruinosus = 48–311). However, as the exposure durations increased, there was a clear trend of increasing MP generation, indicating that the isopods continued to consume the plastic fragments as long as the surface was weathered. A significant difference in the size of generated MPs was observed as well, with smaller isopod species generating smaller MP fragments on average. The results of the present study confirm that certain species of isopod can contribute to the generation of MPs, which constitutes an additional pathway of MP exposure to soil ecosystems. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:784–792. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

中文翻译：

---

陆地等足类动物用低密度聚乙烯产生微塑料而不影响生存

随着人们越来越关注微塑料 (MP) 对陆地生态系统的影响，评估无脊椎动物在这些生态系统中微塑料 (MP) 命运中可能发挥的作用非常重要。通常，议员通过不当丢弃废物或在农业土壤上施用经过处理的生物固体和/或废水进入这些环境。本研究调查了三种陆生等足类动物（Porcellio scaber、Porcellio laevis和Porcellionides pruinosus）在 24 小时至 14 天的暴露时间内是否摄入塑料碎片并产生 MP，以及这是否会对它们的健康产生不利影响。测试容器被设计成将等足类动物暴露于聚乙烯塑料泡沫形式的塑料碎片中。等足类动物在放入测试容器之前暴露于（1）原始的或（2）在土壤和水溶液中风化的塑料中。当暴露于风化聚乙烯时，所有三个物种均产生 MP（所有持续时间的最小–最大尺寸值，包括：P. laevis  = 114–1673 µm，P. scaber  = 99–1635 µm，P. pruinosus  = 85–1113 µm）食用大塑料碎片，但未观察到对其健康产生影响。在较短持续时间的暴露中，本研究中等足类动物产生的 MP 数量在实验容器之间变化很大（14 天暴露的最小 - 最大产生的 MP：P. laevis  = 25-420，P. scaber  = 50–583，P. pruinosus  = 48–311）。然而，随着暴露时间的增加，MP 产生量有明显增加的趋势，表明只要表面风化，等足类动物就会继续消耗塑料碎片。还观察到生成的 MP 大小存在显着差异，较小的等足类物种平均生成较小的 MP 碎片。本研究的结果证实，某些等足类动物可以促进 MP 的产生，这构成了 MP 暴露于土壤生态系统的另一条途径。环境毒理学2024；43：784–792。 © 2023 作者。《环境毒理学和化学》由 Wiley periodicals LLC 代表 SETAC 出版。