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Aging of biodegradable blended plastic generates microplastics and attached bacterial communities in air and aqueous environments

Journal of Hazardous Materials 2022 63 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 45 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Ruiqi Bao, Ruiqi Bao, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Licheng Peng Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Yuanyuan Su, Liu Gao, Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Xubing Lin, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Xubing Lin, Ruiqi Bao, Ruiqi Bao, Ruiqi Bao, Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Liu Gao, Wei Chen, Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Liu Gao, Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Tariq Mehmood, Jingrun Pu, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Jingrun Pu, Tariq Mehmood, Xubing Lin, Licheng Peng Yuanyuan Su, Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Liu Gao, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Xubing Lin, Wei Chen, Licheng Peng Chaolin Xie, Chaolin Xie, Liu Gao, Wei Chen, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Chaolin Xie, Wei Chen, Yuanyuan Su, Licheng Peng Chaolin Xie, Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Ruiqi Bao, Tariq Mehmood, Licheng Peng Tariq Mehmood, Tariq Mehmood, Yuanyuan Su, Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Liu Gao, Licheng Peng Tariq Mehmood, Liu Gao, Ruiqi Bao, Ruiqi Bao, Liu Gao, Jingrun Pu, Liu Gao, Liu Gao, Wei Chen, Wei Chen, Liu Gao, Jingrun Pu, Wei Chen, Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Ruiqi Bao, Wei Chen, Licheng Peng Wei Chen, Wei Chen, Licheng Peng Liu Gao, Yuanyuan Su, Wei Chen, Liu Gao, Ruiqi Bao, Licheng Peng Wei Chen, Licheng Peng Wei Chen, Wei Chen, Licheng Peng Tariq Mehmood, Liu Gao, Ruiqi Bao, Licheng Peng Ruiqi Bao, Licheng Peng Ruiqi Bao, Wei Chen, Ruiqi Bao, Licheng Peng Liu Gao, Wenlu Lin, Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Yuanyuan Su, Yuanyuan Su, Wei Chen, Ruiqi Bao, Yuanyuan Su, Xubing Lin, Wei Chen, Licheng Peng Xubing Lin, Xubing Lin, Wei Chen, Wei Chen, Xubing Lin, Wei Chen, Yuanyuan Su, Tariq Mehmood, Licheng Peng Wei Chen, Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Licheng Peng Wei Chen, Licheng Peng

Summary

Researchers aged biodegradable plastic blends in both air and water, finding that fragmentation into microplastics was inevitable before complete degradation, and that the resulting particles attracted distinct bacterial communities compared to conventional plastics. The study raises concerns that biodegradable plastics may still pose environmental risks during the microplastic phase of their breakdown.

Polymers
Study Type Environmental

The use of biodegradable plastics (BPs) has been widely promoted in recent years, but before their complete degradation, the phase of microplastics (MPs) is inevitable. However, little information concerning the production of MPs from blended polymers is available. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of MPs produced from blended plastics and the development of biofilms on plastic surfaces under long-term aging. Here, three blended materials (i.e., PBAT (53%)+PLA (10%)+Starch (20%), PBAT (80%)+Starch (20%), HDPE (60%)+CaCO (40%)) were aged for 90 days in air, deionized (DI) water and seawater. The results showed massive production of MPs (9653 ± 3920-20,348 ± 5857 items/g) from blended plastics accompanied by a large quantity of flocculent substances during 90 days aging period. Furthermore, the richness of bacteria communities on hydrophobic plastics (i.e., PBAT (53%)+PLA (10%)+Starch (20%), PBAT (80%)+Starch (20%)) was higher than hydrophilic plastics (i.e., HDPE (60%)+CaCO (40%)), and bacterial communities attached to blended plastics exhibited significantly variation with aging times. Overall, promoting the marketable application of blended plastics is risky if their environmental behavior is not effectively addressed.

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