Adult Antarctic midges. Yuta Shimizu / Osaka Metropolitan University
Microscopic particles of plastic have been found across the Earth, from the clouds over Mount Fuji to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Now, scientists have found microplastics in the bellies of Antarctic midges, the only insects found exclusively in Antarctica.
Microplastics are shed by synthetic fabrics and rubber tires, or by plastic bags, bottles, and other goods as they break down. Carried by winds or ocean currents, these plastic particles have been scattered across Antarctica and are now showing up in snow and seawater. There is some evidence that penguins and seabirds are consuming microplastics, and, according to a recent study, so are Antarctic midges.
For the study, researchers examined 40 midge larvae gathered from around the Antarctic Peninsula and analyzed the contents of their guts. While scientists detected just two plastic fragments in the dozens of larvae studied, they say the results are striking given that plastic pollution is so much scarcer in Antarctica than across the rest of the planet.
“You work with this incredible little insect that lives where there are no trees, barely any plants, and you still find plastic in its gut,” said lead author Jack Devlin, who undertook the research while at the University of Kentucky. “That really brings home how widespread the problem is.”
Antarctic midges live among the moss and algae that grow along the edges of Antarctica and are well adapted to the punishing environment. To survive the brutal winters, the tiny, flightless insects will go dormant for months at a time.
“They cope with intense cold, drying out, high salt, big swings in temperature, and UV radiation,” Devlin said. “Does that toughness protect them from a new stress like microplastics, or does it make them vulnerable to something they’ve never seen before?”
To help answer that question, researchers fed microplastics to midge larvae for 10 days in the lab. The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, found no impact from the plastics on the midges’ odds of survival. It did, however, reveal that larvae exposed to high levels of plastic had smaller reserves of fat, a fact that “could have consequences during harsh Antarctic winters,” Devlin said.
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