Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• de Villalobos, Nuria Fernández
• Costa, Maria Clara
• Marín-Beltrán, Isabel

Titel

A community of marine bacteria with potential to biodegrade petroleum-based and biobased microplastics

Ist Teil von

• Marine pollution bulletin, 2022-12, Vol.185, p.114251-114251, Article 114251

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Quelle

Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The biodegradability conditions for both, petroleum-based plastics and bioplastics needs to be evaluated under environmentally realistic conditions. We assessed the biodegradability of low-density polyethylene and biobased polyethylene terephthalate microplastic films by a consortium of marine bacteria during 45 days. Bacterial growth and pH were higher in the samples inoculated with bacteria, compared to the controls. Fourier Infrared spectroscopy-Attenuated Total Reflectance and scanning electron microscopy indicated changes in the chemical functional groups, and the presence of fractures and biofilms in the surface of both plastics exposed to the bacterial community, respectively. The chemical oxygen demand further indicated signs of biodegradation of both polymers. Specific groups of bacteria showed preference for each type of microplastic. Overall, our results show signs of biodegradation, or at least biodeterioration and biofragmentation, of both types of plastics, when subjected to the selected bacterial community. Biobased PET was no more prone to biodegradation than conventional, petroleum-based LDPE. [Display omitted] •Biobased PET is no more prone to biodegradation than petroleum-based LDPE.•The bacterial community under study has potential to biodegrade both plastics.•FTIR analysis showed changes in the functional groups of both polymers.•SEM analysis revealed the presence of fractures and biofilms on plastics' surface.•Different bacterial groups showed affinity to either LDPE or PET MPs.