Ken Linder

I just joined the site in part because I found this discussion. I've been interested in a more responsible way to dispose of old foam.  I know this is an old thread but I have been researching the topic. You folks should know that I found a 2019 article that tells us about the health of the worms over time, and about where at least one nasty substance in the foam goes when they digest it.  The mealworms seem to be fine after living on the stuff and the researchers claim the worms are safe to use as feed.

I think they'd need a multi-generation genetic / genomic assay for about 20 generations to be able to state that firmly, but it is still early days.  Then again I know people who reliably react to tiny amounts of substances.

Here is a quote from the linked article :

What chemical did they track

Brandon, Wu and their colleagues looked at Styrofoam or polystyrene, a common plastic typically used for packaging and insulation, that is costly to recycle because of its low density and bulkiness. It contained a flame retardant called hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD, that is commonly added to polystyrene. The additive is one of many used to improve plastics' manufacturing properties or decrease flammability. In 2015 alone, nearly 25 million metric tons of these chemicals were added to plastics, according to various studies. Some, such as HBCD, can have significant health and environmental impacts, ranging from endocrine disruption to neurotoxicity. Because of this, the European Union plans to ban HBCD, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is evaluating its risk.

And what did they find out

Mealworms in the experiment excreted about half of the polystyrene they consumed as tiny, partially degraded fragments and the other half as carbon dioxide. With it, they excreted the HBCD—about 90 percent within 24 hours of consumption and essentially all of it after 48 hours. Mealworms fed a steady diet of HBCD-laden polystyrene were as healthy as those eating a normal diet. The same was true of shrimp fed a steady diet of the HBCD-ingesting mealworms and their counterparts on a normal diet. The plastic in the mealworms' guts likely played an important role in concentrating and removing the HBCD.

The researchers acknowledge that mealworm-excreted HBCD still poses a hazard

I don't think any of us want to concentrate every questionable substance in the foam into the mealworm frass that we would like to use on our gardens.


https://phys.org/news/2019-12-mealworms-plastic-solution.html