Abstract
Every year, thousands of tons of non-biodegradable plastic products are dumped into marine environments in Thailand’s territorial seawater, impacting various marine animals. Recently, there has been a surge in interest in biodegradable plastics as a solution for aquatic environments. However, in Thailand’s coastal waters, no suitable biodegradable plastic has been used as ocean-biodegradable packaging. Among them, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have excellent biodegradability even in seawater, which is the desired property for packaging applications in tourist places such as plastic bags and bottles. In this report, we assess the environment’s safety and study the biodegradation in Thailand seawater of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and PHA copolymer (PHBVV) that were successfully synthesized by bacteria with similar molecular weight. The two types of extracted PHA samples were preliminary biodegradability tested in the marine environment compared with cellulose and polyethylene. Within 28 days, PHB and PHBVV could be biodegraded in both natural and synthetic seawater with 61.2 and 96.5%, respectively. Furthermore, we assessed residual toxicity after biodegradation for environmental safety using seawater samples containing residual digested compounds and the standard guide for acute toxicity tests. It was discovered that marine water mites (Artemia franciscana) have 100 percent viability, indicating that they are non-toxic to the marine environment.
Highlights
Introduction1.15 kg/person/day, equivalent to 76,164 tons/day, giving rise to the amount of plastic waste contaminated into the sea up to 32,600 tons/year [1]
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralAccording to the data of the garbage situation in Thailand, Thai people have created1.15 kg/person/day, equivalent to 76,164 tons/day, giving rise to the amount of plastic waste contaminated into the sea up to 32,600 tons/year [1]
We found that the rate of cell production in the bioreactor tended to increase over time relating to PHBVV biosynthesis
Summary
1.15 kg/person/day, equivalent to 76,164 tons/day, giving rise to the amount of plastic waste contaminated into the sea up to 32,600 tons/year [1]. Plastic waste in the sea directly affects marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, seagrass, and mangrove forests. It affects tourism from deteriorated scenery and causes health problems by the contaminated microplastics from which plastics can be broken down into smaller sizes by sunlight (photodegradation). These give rise to some toxic chemicals dissolving into the seawater, while some plastics can still absorb toxic substances in seawater into the food chain. As a result of this problem, biodegradable or compostable bioplastics are with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
