Bio-based materials may pose a greater health risk to some of the planet's most important species than the conventional plastics they are designed to replace, a new study has shown.
Such materials are increasingly being advocated as environmentally friendly alternatives to plastics, and used in textiles and products including clothing, wet wipes and period products.
However, microfibres of the materials are emitted into the environment through the laundry cycle, the application of sewage sludge as fertilisers, or the simple wear and tear of textile products.
Despite increasing quantities of bio-based products being produced and sold all over the world, there has been little research to assess their potential impact on species and ecosystems.
To address that, a new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology tested the effects of conventional polyester fibres and two bio-based fibres -viscose and lyocell - on earthworms, a species critical to the health of soils globally.
The study found that in high concentrations of fibres, 30% of earthworms died after 72 hours when exposed to polyester, while those exposed to the bio-based fibres experienced much higher mortality of up to 60% in the case of lyocell and 80% for viscose.
A second experiment, using environmentally relevant concentrations of the fibres, indicated that earthworms housed in soils containing viscose fibres exhibited reduced reproduction compared to those exposed to polyester fibres. Earthworms in the soils containing lyocell fibres showed reduced growth and also higher rates of burrowing within the soil compared to exposure to the other types of fibre.
The researchers say the study highlights the complex nature of global efforts to reduce the threat of microplastic pollution, and the importance of testing new materials being advocated as alternatives to plastics before they are released on the open market.
The study was carried out as part of the
BIO-PLASTIC-RISK: biodegradable bioplastics - assessing environmental risk project, led by researchers at the University of Plymouth and the University of Bath, and supported with £2.6million funding by the Natural Environmental Research Council.
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