Abstract
The pollution of the natural environment, especially the world’s oceans, with conventional plastic is of major concern. Biodegradable plastics are an emerging market bringing along potential chances and risks. The fate of these materials in the environment and their possible effects on organisms and ecosystems has rarely been studied systematically and is not well understood. For the marine environment, reliable field test methods and standards for assessing and certifying biodegradation to bridge laboratory respirometric data are lacking. In this work we present newly developed field tests to assess the performance of (biodegradable) plastics under natural marine conditions. These methods were successfully applied and validated in three coastal habitats (eulittoral, benthic and pelagic) and two climate zones (Mediterranean Sea and tropical Southeast Asia). Additionally, a stand-alone mesocosm test system which integrated all three habitats in one technical system at 400-L scale independent from running seawater is presented as a methodological bridge. Films of polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymer (PHA) and low density polyethylene (LD-PE) were used to validate the tests. While LD-PE remained intact, PHA disintegrated to a varying degree depending on the habitat and the climate zone. Together with the existing laboratory standard test methods, the field and mesocosm test systems presented in this work provide a 3-tier testing scheme for the reliable assessment of the biodegradation of (biodegradable) plastic in the marine environment. This toolset of tests can be adapted to other aquatic ecosystems.
Highlights
Biodegradable plastic materials are being introduced into the market with a growing share in recent years [1], with common uses including food packaging, very lightweight bags and agricultural applications
The field test systems have repeatably proven their stability under natural coastal marine conditions in two climate zones over many months to years of exposure
Reliable systematic tests to investigate the biodegradability of plastics in nature are urgently needed to complete the environmental risk assessment of these materials entering the marine environment
Summary
Biodegradable plastic materials are being introduced into the market with a growing share in recent years [1], with common uses including food packaging, very lightweight bags and agricultural applications. The possible environmental benefit of biodegradable plastics is dependent on the application. Certified soil-biodegradable mulch films [2] are utilized to substitute conventional plastic polyethylene films, especially for those applications in which. Test methods for biodegradable plastic under marine conditions materials. HYDRA Marine Sciences GmbH (from 2019 on) provided support in the form of salaries for authors CL, AE, and MW, and provided research materials. HYDRA Fieldwork GbR (from 2019 on) provided support in the form of salaries for authors BU and DM, and provided research materials. BASF SE provided support in the form of salaries for authors KS and GB, and provided research materials and additional funding. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section
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