As the damaging effects of plastic pollution continue to increase, it鈥檚 growing increasingly necessary to take aggressive action against them. Recycling is one of the more conventional approaches to tackling the plastic waste problem, but聽. Scientists looking for ways to fight the pollution problem are now finding that mealworms might be useful in the process.
According to a study in聽Environmental Science & Technology,聽聽and convert them into carbon dioxide, rather than passing the plastics in their feces, as聽The Economist聽reports. A bacteria found in the guts of mealworms can help quickly break down polymers, the study found. Other research has found that they are also able to digest a plastic called polystyrene.
The research is especially important now, as plastics have growing, negative impacts on the environment as well as human health. Jenna Jambeck, an environmental engineer who conducted a 2015 study on the topic found that nearly聽聽ends up in the ocean each year, and the number is expected to double by 2025. Plastic poses a threat to entire ecosystems, killing more animals, and puts human health at risk as聽.
Researchers studying the mealworms divided the insects into different groups. The groups of worms were given 1.8 grams of polystyrene, polyethylene, or both. Others received wheat bran to supplement their plastic diets. By the end of the 32-day experiment,聽鈥攖he ones who were given wheat bran with their plastic did the best. Mealworms that were fed polyethylene were able to convert 50% of the plastic into gas; and the ones that consumed the polystyrene were able to convert 45%.
To read the full story, visit聽/.