Life in the "Plastisphere": Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris
I found this paper surprising and fascinating. Apparently fragments of lighter-than-water plastics like polypropylene and polyethylene in oceans are colonized by microbes that can break down hydrocarbon polymers, and they are eating or at least pitting the floating plastic bits. I wonder if similar processes are breaking down heavier-than-water plastics like nylon that fall beneath the photic zone, or if those are going to endure.
I found this paper surprising and fascinating. Apparently fragments of lighter-than-water plastics like polypropylene and polyethylene in oceans are colonized by microbes that can break down hydrocarbon polymers, and they are eating or at least pitting the floating plastic bits. I wonder if similar processes are breaking down heavier-than-water plastics like nylon that fall beneath the photic zone, or if those are going to endure.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1TSkAgM
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