Research Projects

Microplastics are one of the most dangerous emerging pollutants. In Europe and the US, extensive research on microplastic distribution and environmental effects has been reported, while little is known about the extent of microplastic pollution in India's soils and municipal solid waste (MSW). Moreover, how microplastics, metals, and pesticides interact in the terrestrial matrix has not been studied. Moreover, how microplastics and the microplastic-pesticide-metal interactions affect the northeast India’s soils and indigenous earthworms have never been studied. The pollutant defense mechanisms and waste valorization potential of northeast India’s indigenous epigeic earthworms (e.g., Drawida assamensis) have never been explored. Our concluded ANRF (previously, SERB: EMR/2016/002609 & CRG/2021/002442) funded projects provided standardized vermicompost technology with conventional earthworm species (e.g., Eisenia fetida) for the removal of toxic metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, and successfully developed scalable and fortified microbial consortia for in situ remediation of MSW and other biogenic solid wastes like textile sludge. With these leads, we propose appreciating the distribution of indigenous earthworms reported in earlier literature in microplastic-pesticide-metal contaminated soils and soils of uncontaminated sites. Correspondingly, the prospects of the indigenous earthworms as potential microplastic, pesticide, and heavy metal removing agents from MSW will be evaluated in comparison with established exotic earthworms (Eisenia fetida) extensively used for vermicomposting. This will help to know the alterations in earthworm ecology under rapidly changing soil environments, offering a more sustainable, ecologically sound, but efficient vermicomposting technique than conventional processes. Moreover, how earthworms respond and cope with microplastics and combat the microplastic-metal-pesticide interplay in contaminated soil and MSW will be ascertained. Eventually, the response of the earthworm gut microbiome to microplastics, pesticides, and metal exposure, as well as their role in the earthworm’s bioaccumulation and epigenetic regulations, will be studied. Then, a few efficient detoxifying microorganisms will be isolated from earthworm-mediated systems, and their mutualistic relations will be determined to formulate effective consortia under laboratory conditions. Based on the lab results, the optimized microbial consortia will be upscaled using low-cost media for large-scale field assessment. Finally, the most efficient microbial consortia would be developed based on the results. This project will generate substantial data on microplastic abundance in northeast India’s soils, soil-borne earthworms, and MSWs. This project will also generate sound new knowledge on the combined impact of microplastic-pesticide-metal interactions on soil health and the risk of contamination by releasing target pollutants from MSWs. Simultaneously, this project will generate new knowledge on the ecological response of indigenous and established exotic earthworms to microplastic contamination. Furthermore, advanced knowledge of the earthworm-induced microbial functional and genomic responses to microplastic, pesticide, and metal exposures will be created, facilitating the development of formidable microbial consortia for combating the real-world environmental issues surrounding microplastics.