Styrofoam May Be Biodegradable After All, Thanks to Mealworms, Study Says

Mealworms can survive on a diet of polystyrene plastics — commonly used to make Styrofoam — according to research published in
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Mealworms devouring Styrofoam
the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The findings point toward a possible solution for dealing with one of the most-polluting forms of plastic. In the study, 100 mealworms consumed between 34 and 39 milligrams of Styrofoam per day. These worms were as healthy as those fed a normal diet, the researchers report, and excreted biodegraded Styrofoam fragments that were usable as agricultural soil. While studies have found that other organisms, including waxworms and Indian mealmoth larvae, are able to digest plastics such as polyethylene, this is the first organism able to digest Styrofoam, which is generally considered non-biodegradable. The discovery could aid in better understanding of the conditions and enzymes that contribute to plastic degradation.