Fate of petroleum-based and plant-based teabags exposed to environmental soil conditions for one year.

ABSTRACT: Petroleum-based plastics are materials which have provided important industrial benefits from being lightweight and having low production costs. However, plastic pollution is pervasive and ubiquitous on all environments. This has led some industries to rapidly introduce the so called 'bioplastics' into the market by switching the conventional ones for new plant-based alternatives with similar properties. However, little is known about the fate of such alternatives especially in the open environment. In this novel study, the degradation of teabags from eight different brands was investigated, five petroleum based (cellulose-PP blend) and three plant-based (cellulose, cellulose-PLA blend and PLA). The degradation was tested under real-environmental soil conditions over a 12-month period. Fou

SUBMITTER: Mateos-Cardenas A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9485558 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature