Plastic damage is not possible. Every year, more than 8 million tons of synthetic polymers enter the sea, and when some sink to the bottom, return to the shore, or collect in the center, the main part is not easily identified.
The missing plastic is a mystery, but some researchers think that the parasites are hungry.
Experiments in the lab have now shown that a type of water bacterium, called Rhodococcus redit can slowly break down and digest plastic made from polyethylene (PE).
It is widely used in packaging, PE is the most widely produced plastic in the world, and it is not known whether R. ruber munches on garbage in the wild, new research proves that at least they can.
Previous studies have found complications of R. ruber floating in mobile films frozen on marine plastics. In addition, the first study in 2006 showed plastic on the ground R. ruber it was breaking at a faster rate than usual.
A new study proves that it is.
“This is the first time we can confirm in this way that bacteria digest plastic into CO2 and other molecules,” says ecologist Maaike Goudriaan of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ).
To simulate how plastic breaks down at the surface of the ocean, Goudriaan and his colleagues exposed their plastic samples to UV light and placed them in an artificial ocean.
“Treating with UV light was important because we already know that sunlight breaks down a little bit of plastic into biting bacteria,” explains Goudrian.
Then, the group started problems R. ruber to the place.
By measuring the levels of the carbon isotope released from the decomposing plastic known as carbon-13, the authors estimate that the polymers they tested degraded at an average rate of 1.2 percent per year.
The team can’t be sure how the UV lamp decomposed the plastic compared to how the virus works, but the bacteria did play a role. Bacterial samples after the experiment showed fatty acid membranes made of carbon-13.
The rate of plastic degradation in the current study is too slow to solve the problem of plastic pollution in our oceans, but it shows where some of the plastic that is missing from the world may have gone.
“Our findings show that sunlight could degrade floating plastic that has been dumped in the ocean since the 1950s,” said Annalisa Delre, a visual biologist.
Small insects would have come and digested some of the remains of the Sun.
Since 2013, researchers have warned that micro-organisms thrive on plastic sediments in the ocean, creating an environment known as the ‘plastisphere’.
There is also evidence that some microbial communities are changing to feed on different types of plastic.
Previous research has found bacteria and fungi, both on land and in the ocean, that appear to eat plastic. But although knowing this can help us to recycle waste before it ends up in the wild, some of its functions are controversial.
Some scientists have proposed that we release plastic-like materials from polluted areas, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Others aren’t sure it’s a good idea. Enzymes produced by bacteria that break down plastic may sound like a great way to process our waste, but some experts are concerned about the unintended consequences for the environment and food crops.
After all, breaking plastic is not a good thing. Smaller pieces are more difficult to clean than larger pieces, and these smaller pieces can get into the food. Filters, for example, can incorrectly catch small pieces of plastic before the insects can.
In a 2020 study, every seafood sampled on the market in Australia contained microplastics.
Its effect on human or animal health is unknown.
“Even better than cleaning, is prevention,” argues Goudriaan.
“And we are the only people who can do that.”
This study was published in Marine Damage Bulletin.
