Biodegradation of plastics in soil and effects on nitrification activity. A laboratory approach

The progressive application of new biodegradable plastics in agriculture calls for improved testing approaches to assure their environmental safety. Full biodegradation (≥90%) prevents accumulation in soil, which is the first tier of testing. The application of specific ecotoxicity tests is the seco...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers in microbiology Vol. 5; p. 710
Main Authors Bettas Ardisson, Giulia, Tosin, Maurizio, Barbale, Marco, Degli-Innocenti, Francesco
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 15.12.2014
Subjects
biodegradability
biodegradable materials
Biodegradation
Biodegradation, Environmental
bioplastics
Microbiology
Soil Microbiology
biodegradability
biodegradable materials
soil ecotoxicity
soil nitrification
bioplastics
biodegradation
soil microbiology
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The progressive application of new biodegradable plastics in agriculture calls for improved testing approaches to assure their environmental safety. Full biodegradation (≥90%) prevents accumulation in soil, which is the first tier of testing. The application of specific ecotoxicity tests is the second tier of testing needed to show safety for the soil ecosystem. Soil microbial nitrification is widely used as a bioindicator for evaluating the impact of chemicals on soil but it is not applied for evaluating the impact of biodegradable plastics. In this work the International Standard test for biodegradation of plastics in soil (ISO 17556, 2012) was applied both to measure biodegradation and to prepare soil samples needed for a subsequent nitrification test based on another International Standard (ISO 14238, 2012). The plastic mulch film tested in this work showed full biodegradability and no inhibition of the nitrification potential of the soil in comparison with the controls. The laboratory approach suggested in this Technology Report enables (i) to follow the course of biodegradation, (ii) a strict control of variables and environmental conditions, (iii) the application of very high concentrations of test material (to maximize the possible effects). This testing approach could be taken into consideration in improved testing schemes aimed at defining the biodegradability of plastics in soil.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
Reviewed by: Romy Chakraborty, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, USA; Bongkeun Song, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, USA
Edited by: Gavin Collins, National University of Ireland, Ireland
This article was submitted to Microbiotechnology, Ecotoxicology and Bioremediation, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.
ISSN:1664-302X
1664-302X
DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00710