Abstract
The diversity and load of heterotrophic bacteria and fungi associated with the mangrove soil from Suva, Fiji Islands, was determined by using the plate count method. The ability of the bacterial isolates to produce various hydrolytic enzymes such as amylase, gelatinase and lipase were determined using the plate assay. The heterotrophic bacterial load was considerably higher than the fungal load. There was a predominance of the gram positive genus, Bacillus. Other genera encountered included Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, Listeria and Vibrio. Their effectiveness on the degradation of commercial polythene carry bags made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) was studied over a period of eight weeks in the laboratory. Biodegradation was measured in terms of mean weight loss, which was nearly 5 % after a period of eight weeks. There was a significant increase in the bacterial load of the soil attached to class 2 (HDPE) polythene. After eight weeks of submergence in mangrove soil, soil attached to class 1 and class 3 polythene mostly had Bacillus (Staphylococcus predominated in class 2 polythene). While most of the isolates were capable of producing hydrolytic enzymes such as amylase and gelatinase, lipolytic activity was low. Class 2 HDPE suffered the greatest biodegradation.
Highlights
Plastic is the most versatile synthetic ‘manmade’ substance, created out of the fossil fuel resources that enable most of the industrial and technological revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries
1.35x104, while the fungal load varied from high bacterial load (112x109 cfu/g) compared to
The results revealed that the heterotrophic bacterial load in the mangrove soil from the study area was in the range of 104 to 105 cfu/gm which was nearly similar to the observations of Dhevendran et al (1987) who reported 33.2x105 cfu/gm bacterial population from Astamudy lake sediment
Summary
Plastic is the most versatile synthetic ‘manmade’ substance, created out of the fossil fuel resources that enable most of the industrial and technological revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries. Large volume of plastics are disposed of in US land fills - in 1995 alone, an estimated 20 millions tons of plastics products were disposed of in landfills. Because of their buoyancy, long term persistence and ubiquity in the marine environment, plastic waste poses a variety of hazards to marine life Besides being highly visible are a rapidly increasing percentage of solid waste in landfills, resistant to biodegradation leading to pollution, harmful to the natural environment. As a result of this natural process wastes are either used up or converted into a less harmful form
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