Earthworms avoid floors with tires offset. This stems from a new Swiss study. When car tires wear out while driving, small particles enter the floors along the street. They include rubber, minerals and countless chemicals of the tires and the road surface.
According to estimates, more than three million tonnes of such particles are released worldwide every year. For the study of the Swiss Swiss Federal Water Research Institute (EAWAG), the Federal Technical University of Lausanne (EPF) and the Swiss center for applied ecotoxicology, the animals were stored in special ships that were filled on the one hand with loaded and on the other with released soil. The result: with high concentrations of tire production, the earthworms considerably avoid the dirty soil. This effect was not clear in lower concentrations.
The researchers also checked whether the contact with the particles has a negative influence on survival or reproduction. Here it was shown that the tire exit in the ground has no effect.
60 species in Austria
Soil scoops such as earthworms that dig through the earth and can accommodate organic material come into contact with pollutants such as rubber particularly intensive. There are around 700 earthworm species worldwide, including around 400 in Europe and 60 in Austria. The animals dig up to three meters in the depth and mix different layers of land. Earthworms feel the most comfortable in an airy, damp soil.
Source: Krone
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