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Organic additive release from plastic to seawater is lower under deep-sea conditions.

ABSTRACT: Plastic garbage patches at the ocean surface are symptomatic of a wider pollution affecting the whole marine environment. Sinking of plastic debris increasingly appears to be an important process in the global fate of plastic in the ocean. However, there is insufficient knowledge about the processes affecting plastic distributions and degradation and how this influences the release of additives under varying environmental conditions, especially in deep-sea environments. Here we show that in abiotic conditions increasing hydrostatic pressure inhibits the leaching of the heaviest organic additives such as tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate and diisononyl phthalate from polyethylene and polyvinylchloride materials, whereas deep-sea and surface marine prokaryotes promote the release of all targeted additives (phthalates, bisphenols, organophosphate esters). This study provides empirical evidences for more efficient additive release at the ocean surface than in deep seawater, where the major plastic burden is supposed to transit through before reaching the sediment compartment.

SUBMITTER: Fauvelle V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8292457 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Organic additive release from plastic to seawater is lower under deep-sea conditions.

Fauvelle Vincent V Garel Marc M Tamburini Christian C Nerini David D Castro-Jiménez Javier J Schmidt Natascha N Paluselli Andrea A Fahs Armand A Papillon Laure L Booth Andy M AM Sempéré Richard R

Nature communications 20210720 1

Plastic garbage patches at the ocean surface are symptomatic of a wider pollution affecting the whole marine environment. Sinking of plastic debris increasingly appears to be an important process in the global fate of plastic in the ocean. However, there is insufficient knowledge about the processes affecting plastic distributions and degradation and how this influences the release of additives under varying environmental conditions, especially in deep-sea environments. Here we show that in abio ...[more]

PMID: 34285235

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Project description:Plastics have become ubiquitous in the world's oceans, and recent work indicates that they can transfer from the ocean to the atmosphere in sea spray aerosol (SSA). Hazardous chemical residues in plastics, including bisphenol-A (BPA), represent a sizable fraction of consumer plastics and have been measured consistently in air over both terrestrial and marine environments. However, the chemical lifetimes of BPA and mechanisms by which plastic residues degrade with respect to photochemical and heterogeneous oxidation processes in aerosols are unknown. Here, we present the photosensitized and OH-initiated heterogeneous oxidation kinetics of BPA in the aerosol phase consisting of pure-component BPA and internal mixtures of BPA, NaCl, and dissolved photosensitizing organic matter. We found that photosensitizers enhanced BPA degradation in binary-component BPA + photosensitizer aerosol mixtures when irradiated in the absence of OH. OH-initiated degradation of BPA was enhanced in the presence of NaCl with and without photosensitizing species. We attribute this enhanced degradation to greater mobility and thus reaction probability between BPA, OH, and reactive chlorine species (RCS) formed through reaction between OH and dissolved Cl- in the more liquid-like aerosol matrix in the presence of NaCl. Addition of the photosensitizers in the ternary-component BPA + NaCl + photosensitizer aerosol led to no enhancement in the degradation of BPA following light exposure compared to the binary-component BPA + NaCl aerosol. This was attributed to quenching of triplet state formation by dissolved Cl- in the less viscous aqueous aerosol mixtures containing NaCl. Based upon measured second-order heterogeneous reaction rates, the estimated lifetime of BPA with respect to heterogeneous oxidation by OH is one week in the presence of NaCl compared to 20 days in the absence of NaCl. This work highlights the important heterogeneous and photosensitized reactions and the role of phase state, which affect the lifetimes of hazardous plastic pollutants in SSA with implications for understanding pollutant transport and exposure risks in coastal marine environments.

Project description:Biodegradable plastics are often promoted as sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics. Nevertheless, significant knowledge gaps exist regarding their degradation under relevant conditions, particularly when compounded into commercial products. To this end, the present research investigates the disintegration of ten commercially available biodegradable plastic products under simulated industrial composting conditions. The tested products included polymer compositions of either polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT)/starch, or polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), covering both flexible and rigid plastics. These products comprised three waste bags, one waste bag drawstring, one food bag (flexible plastics), two flower pots, one food container, one plate, and one lid (rigid plastics). Among the tested products, nine were marketed as compostable. Of these, six were certified under the European standard EN 13432 for compostable packaging, two held TÜV Austria's "OK compost home" certification, and one was labeled as compostable but lacked certification. Additionally, one product was labeled as 100% biodegradable but lacked certification, and the environment in which the product could biodegrade was not specified. Disintegration was determined according to ISO 20200 in laboratory scale tests conducted at 58 °C with 55% moisture content over 90 days. Results showed disintegration degrees ranging from 75 to 100%, with five products achieving complete disintegration. Two products, however, reached only 75% disintegration. Following the disintegration test, compost particles smaller than 2 mm were examined for microplastics (MPs) via light microscopy. MPs were detected in compost undersieves for two of the ten biodegradable plastic products, while no MPs were detected for the conventional plastics. Notably, the visual inspection was performed without pretreating the compost matrix due to the observed degradation of biodegradable plastics when using chemicals for oxidative digestion. Considering the limitations of visual MP observation without pretreatment, future research should prioritize the development of methods for extracting biodegradable MPs from complex matrices like compost. Enhanced extraction methods are essential for understanding compost's potential role as a source of MPs in the environment.

Dataset Information

Organic additive release from plastic to seawater is lower under deep-sea conditions.

Publications

Organic additive release from plastic to seawater is lower under deep-sea conditions.

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