Researchers have found a species of fungus, known as Aspergillus tubingensis, that is able to feed off of plastic. In lab experiments, published in Environmental Pollution, scientists found that the mycelium of the fungus colonizes polyester polyurethane plastic, causing surface degradation and scarring.
This is not the first time that organisms have been found to be able to feed off plastic waste.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Plastic-degrading fungus found in Pakistan rubbish dump
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-degrading-fungus-pakistan-rubbish-dump-islamabad-dr-sehroon-khan-a7962046.html
Polyurethane is used to manufacture a huge variety of everyday objects that end up as plastic waste
Scientists believe they may have discovered one solution to the planet’s growing level of plastic waste in the form of a plastic-eating fungus.
The subsequent study, published in science journal Environmental Pollution, isolated the fungus, identified as Aspergillus tubingensis found in the dump to assess its ability to degrade polyester polyurethane.
Polyurethane is used to manufacture a huge variety of everyday objects and components, including tyres, condoms, hoses, supermarket trolleys, car suspension bushings, and some glues.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Plastic Pollution Is Killing Coral Reefs, 4-Year Study Finds
https://science.slashdot.org/story/18/01/25/2056235/plastic-pollution-is-killing-coral-reefs-4-year-study-finds?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
Plastic Pollution Is Killing Coral Reefs, 4-Year Study Finds
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/25/580227045/plastic-pollution-is-killing-coral-reefs-4-year-study-finds
Millions of tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean every year. And the trash stays there: Whether it’s grocery bags or water bottles or kids’ toys, plastic is practically indestructible.
Now marine scientists have discovered that it’s killing coral reefs.
A new study based on four years of diving on 159 reefs in the Pacific shows that reefs in four countries — Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar — are heavily contaminated with plastic. It clings to the coral, especially branching coral. And where it clings, it sickens or kills.
“The likelihood of disease increases from 4 percent to 89 percent when corals are in contact with plastic,” researchers report in the journal Science.
“It’s certainly well known that plastics abrade corals, create new openings,” she says. “They basically tear open the skin of the coral and that can allow an infection from anywhere to start.”
Coral reefs already are susceptible to bleaching due to unusually warm water, either from seasonal shifts in water temperature or from human-caused global warming. “Bleached coral is more susceptible to disease,” Harvell says. “The bleached coral is stressed. Plastic would make things that much worse.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/16/scientists-accidentally-create-mutant-enzyme-that-eats-plastic-bottles?CMP=share_btn_tw
The breakthrough, spurred by the discovery of plastic-eating bugs at a Japanese dump, could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis
Tomi Engdahl says:
Not so fantastic single-use plastic to get an eco-friendly makeover
https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/not-so-fantastic-single-use-plastic-get-eco-friendly-makeover_en.html
Milk-based edible food packaging and ready-meal trays made from wood could help reduce the pervasiveness of single-use plastic, a major cause of environmental pollution adversely affecting wildlife, habitats and human health.
It may come as a shock to some, but around half of all the plastic products in the world are used only once. After they enter the waste stream, these practically indestructible synthetic materials end up in landfill or oceans, persisting in the environment for hundreds of years.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.mtv.fi/lifestyle/koti/artikkeli/muovia-siella-muovia-taalla-miksi-kaikki-tuotteet-pakataan-muoviin/5322648#gs.Kq92BIk
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/everyday-plastics-found-to-emit-greenhouse-gas-pollution-as-they-degrade/
Tomi Engdahl says:
In the U.S., 70% of the plastic collected for recycling goes to landfill. It’s 30% in the EU. Many argue that the real mission is to find a cleaner, greener alternative.
Will Aluminium Cans Replace Plastic Bottles?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/woodmackenzie/2019/09/02/will-aluminium-cans-replace-plastic-bottles/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Suomalaistutkijat yllättyivät: humusjärvien bakteerit ja levät hajottavat muovia ja tekevät siitä hyödyllisiä rasvahappoja
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11162348
Jyväskylän yliopiston tutkimus tuo yllättävää tietoa luonnon mikrobien kyvystä käsitellä vesiin päätynyttä mikromuovia.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/microplastics-found-in-human-organs-and-tissues-for-the-first-time/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Race To Develop Plastic-Eating Bacteria
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcarpenter/2021/03/10/the-race-to-develop-plastic-eating-bacteria/
Tomi Engdahl says:
New degradable plastic breaks down in sunlight and air within a week
https://www.inceptivemind.com/degradable-plastic-breaks-down-sunlight-air-within-week/20127/
Plastic pollution is one of the threats with the greatest impact and is now starting to become a huge problem. Plastic waste chokes shorelines and oceans, in part because plastic polymers do not easily decompose. This would not be the case if every plastic, like the new one, would break down in about a week in sunlight and air.
The novel degradable plastic material has been developed by researchers from China’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and it came into existence while working on an advanced type of chemical sensor. The researchers were developing a polymer film that changes color depending on pH levels. But then they noticed that the plastic’s natural deep red color faded quickly, and the plastic film broke apart over several days in sunlight.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New tech converts plastic waste into safe and edible food
https://www.inceptivemind.com/food-generator-concept-converts-plastic-waste-safe-edible-food/20295/
Plastic waste is choking our planet. Scientists try every day to find creative solutions to this growing problem, with some even turning plastic bottles into vanillin using bacteria.
More recently, two U.S. scientists have won an award called the 2021 Future Insight Prize earlier this month for technology that they say can convert plastic waste and inedible biomass into safe and edible food. The unique “food generator concept” was developed by Ting Lu, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Stephen Techtmann, associate professor of biological sciences at Michigan Technological University, who won €1 million prizes for plastics-to-protein research.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The technology relies on what Lu calls synthetic microbial biology, which essentially relies on gene-hacked microbes to break down the molecules of end-of-life plastics and turn them into protein.
The waste first goes into processing reactors to be broken down by heat. Once broken down, the byproduct is fed into a vat with the bacterial community, which chews on whatever flows there and grows. The cells are then dried down into a powder for later use.
The resulting foods contain all the required nutrition, are nontoxic, provide health benefits and additionally allow for personalization needs,
https://www.inceptivemind.com/food-generator-concept-converts-plastic-waste-safe-edible-food/20295/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/microplastics-found-in-human-blood-in-firstofitskind-study/
Tomi Engdahl says:
SCIENTISTS CLAIM NEW ENZYME CAN BREAK DOWN PLASTIC IN A SINGLE WEEK
https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-new-enzyme-break-down-plastic-week
THIS COULD BE A GAME CHANGER.
Chad Enzyme
Scientists used machine learning to discover what they say could be a new way to speed up the process of breaking down plastic significantly, Vice reports.
As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Nature, a research team from the University of Texas at Austin modified an enzyme to break down the individual components of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a commonly used plastic that makes up a staggering 12 percent of global waste.
The process, called depolymerization, has the added benefit of allowing the broken down monomers to be reconstituted back into virgin PET plastic, a potentially revolutionary way of recycling the astronomical amounts of plastic waste we’ve accumulated.
The fact that PET plastic can be turned back into virgin plastic is a big deal.
“This has advantages over traditional belt recycling,” Hal Alper, professor in chemical engineering and author on the paper, told Vice. “If you were to melt the plastic and then remold it, you’d start to lose the integrity of the plastic each round that you go through with recycling.”
This new method, however, can be used to make “virgin PET plastic each and every time,” Alper added.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Study shows everyday plastic products release trillions of microscopic particles into water
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-everyday-plastic-products-trillions-microscopic.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2022/04/28/scientists-use-ai-to-make-an-enzyme-that-eats-plastic-trash-in-hours-video/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A new method for turning plastic into oil
The conversion of mountains of plastic waste into oil, and new products, could help address gaps in Japan’s recycling efforts.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-023-00289-0
Tomi says:
Jos juot pullovettä, juot myös luultua enemmän muovia, kertoo tuore tutkimus
https://www.msn.com/fi-fi/viihde/uutiset/jos-juot-pullovett%C3%A4-juot-my%C3%B6s-luultua-enemm%C3%A4n-muovia-kertoo-tuore-tutkimus/ar-BB1h1DUt?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=c0dbb48709f24620bdde9f463fa048f4&ei=11
Jos juot pullovettä, juot sen mukana muovia. Uusi tutkimus kuitenkin osoittaa, että yhdessä pullossa vettä voi olla jopa satojatuhansia nanomuovihiukkasia, joita ei aiemmin ole havaittu. Nanomuovit ovat paljaalle silmälle näkymättömiä muovipalasia, joiden paksuus on vain noin viideskymmenesosa ihmishiuksen paksuudesta.
Koska vesipullot valmistetaan yleensä PET-muovista, ei ollut yllättävää, että myös sitä löytyi vesinäytteistä. Sitäkin enemmän löytyi kuitenkin polyamidia eli nailonia. Tutkijat uskovat sen kulkeutuvan veteen muovisuodattamista, joilla pullotettava vesi puhdistetaan.
Tomi says:
Microscopic pieces of plastic are everywhere. Now, they’ve been found in bottled water in concentrations 10 to 100 times more than previously estimated.
Researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University found roughly 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter of bottled water. The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
About 10% of the detected plastic particles were microplastics, and the other 90% were nanoplastics. Microplastics are between 5 millimeters to 1 micrometer; nanoplastics are particles less than 1 micrometer in size. For context, a human hair is about 70 micrometers thick.
Researchers find a massive number of plastic particles in bottled water
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223730333/bottled-water-plastic-microplastic-nanoplastic-study
Bottled water contains thousands of nanoplastics so small they can invade the body’s cells, study says
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/08/health/bottled-water-nanoplastics-study-wellness/index.html