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Plastic degradation in marine bacteria describes when certain pelagic bacteria break down polymers and use them as a primary source of carbon for energy. Polymers such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are incredibly useful for their durability and relatively low cost of production, however it is their persistence and difficulty to be properly ...
These microplastics are frequently consumed by marine organisms at the base of the food chain, like plankton and fish larvae, which leads to a concentration of ingested plastic up the food chain. Plastics are produced with toxic chemicals, so these toxic substances enter the marine food chain, including the fish that some humans eat. [39]
A polyester shirt Close-up of a polyester shirt SEM picture of a bend in a high-surface area polyester fiber with a seven-lobed cross section A drop of water on a water resistant polyester Polyesters can contain one ester linkage per repeat unit of the polymer, as in polyhydroxyalkanoates like polylactic acid , or they may have two ester ...
Plastivores are "organisms that use plastic as their primary carbon and energy source". [3] This does not necessarily mean being able to fulfill all biological needs from plastic alone.
Clothing often contains non-organic, excessively farmed cotton which is grown with chemicals that are known to cause eutrophication. Eutrophication is a process in which fresh water sources such as lakes and rivers become overly enriched with nutrients. This causes a dense growth of plant life that is harmful to the ecosystem, such as algae blooms.
They produced and patented one of the first polyester fibers which they named Terylene, also known as Dacron, equal to or surpassing nylon in toughness and resilience. [8] ICI and DuPont went on to produce their own versions of the fiber. The world production of synthetic fibers was 55.2 million tonnes in 2014. [9]
In 1996, Monsanto discovered a method of producing one of the two polymers in plants and acquired Biopol from Zeneca, a spinout of ICI, as a result of the potential for cheaper production. [ 11 ] As a result of the steep increase in oil prices in the early 2000s (to nearly $140/barrel US$ in 2008), the plastic-production industry finally sought ...
A purple sea urchin being tested for pollution using a whole effluent toxicity method.. Aquatic toxicology is the study of the effects of manufactured chemicals and other anthropogenic and natural materials and activities on aquatic organisms at various levels of organization, from subcellular through individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. [1]