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Environmental risk, toxicity, and biodegradation of polyethylene: a review.
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This review covers the environmental persistence, toxicity, and potential biodegradation of polyethylene — one of the world's most widely produced plastics. Because polyethylene does not biodegrade, it persists for decades and breaks into microplastics that accumulate in soil, water, and living organisms, with documented toxic effects across multiple species.
Polyethylene is the second-most-commonly-used commercial polymer. It is used in various industries, including agricultural mulches, composite materials, and packaging. Since polyethylene is not biodegradable, it can persist for a long time in water and soil, strangling otherwise fruitful land. The ecological and toxicological consequences and the fate of polyethylene have only recently been revealed. As a result, the primary goal of this review is to shed light on the reported toxicity of polyethylene to the environment and living creatures and highlight recent research on its degradation process through bibliometric analysis. To do that, we searched Web of Science database literature up to August 2021 and performed the bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer. We found that relative research interest showed a positive trend, particularly in the last 5 years. China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences had the highest published papers. Methods for polyethylene biodegradation by invertebrates, bacteria, and fungi were also reported indicating the need for future research to investigate and develop new biodegradation technologies.
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Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.