Transcriptomic and metabolic responses of earthworms to contaminated soil with polypropylene and polyethylene microplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Examining transcriptomic and metabolic responses of earthworms to microplastic-contaminated soil is critical for understanding molecular-level toxicity of microplastics; yet very little research on this topic exists. We investigated influences of environmentally relevant concentrations (ERC) of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) microplastic-contaminated soil on earthworms at the transcriptomic, metabolic, tissue and whole-body levels to study their molecular toxicity. The addition of PP and PE at ERC induced oxidative stress on earthworms, as indicated by the high enrichment of glutathione metabolism and increased glutamine at the transcriptomic and metabolic levels.