Materials Science · Biomaterials
Researchers identified a carboxylesterase enzyme from Bacillus halotolerans that rapidly converted the PET intermediates BHET and MHET. It showed much weaker activity against commercial PET powder, highlighting its main strength as an intermediate-processing enzyme rather than a bulk-plastic degrader.
Researchers report that a biodegradable plastic film containing 10% cetyltrimethylammonium bromide could be depolymerized in a dilute sodium hydroxide solution. Microwave heating reduced the treatment time from six hours to two minutes, producing lactic acid and sodium lactate; activated carbon removed residual cetyltrimethylammonium bromide afterward.
A study found microplastics on beaches throughout the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area in Western Australia, including remote sites. Levels were relatively low compared with many urban coastlines, but differences between beaches point to possible local human inputs and natural movement of the particles.
Plastic pollution altered how intertidal sediments responded to a storm, changing oxygen consumption and nitrogen fluxes. The findings suggest that plastic pollution can affect coastal carbon and nitrogen exchanges during short-term environmental change.
Microplastics were detected throughout a Brazilian drinking-water reservoir, but they accumulated most heavily in downstream sediment. Researchers found low to moderate ecological risk in the water and very high risk in sediment, especially downstream.
Two native Amazonian stingless bee species carried microplastics in both urban and rural areas, with most particles attached to their outer bodies. The finding suggests these bees could help monitor pollution, while also raising questions about whether they transport plastic particles into natural areas.
