Biodegradation of poly(butylene succinate) in soil laboratory incubations assessed by stable carbon isotope labelling

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 5691
• Main Authors: Nelson, Taylor F, Baumgartner, Rebekka, Jaggi, Madalina, Bernasconi, Stefano M, Battagliarin, Glauco, Sinkel, Carsten, Künkel, Andreas, Kohler, Hans-Peter E, McNeill, Kristopher, Sander, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 28.09.2022; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural pollution; Biodegradability; Biodegradation; Butanediol; Carbon; Carbon 13; Carbon isotopes; Isotopes; Labeling; Mass balance; Mineralization; Plastic pollution; Plastics; Polymers; Sediment pollution; Soil analysis; Soil contamination; Soil pollution; Soils
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33064-8

Abstract Using biodegradable instead of conventional plastics in agricultural applications promises to help overcome plastic pollution of agricultural soils. However, analytical limitations impede our understanding of plastic biodegradation in soils. Utilizing stable carbon isotope ( 13 C-)labelled poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), a synthetic polyester, we herein present an analytical approach to continuously quantify PBS mineralization to 13 CO 2 during soil incubations and, thereafter, to determine non-mineralized PBS-derived 13 C remaining in the soil. We demonstrate extensive PBS mineralization (65 % of added 13 C) and a closed mass balance on PBS− 13 C over 425 days of incubation. Extraction of residual PBS from soils combined with kinetic modeling of the biodegradation data and results from monomer (i.e., butanediol and succinate) mineralization experiments suggest that PBS hydrolytic breakdown controlled the overall PBS biodegradation rate. Beyond PBS biodegradation in soil, the presented methodology is broadly applicable to investigate biodegradation of other biodegradable polymers in various receiving environments.