An international cohort of marine scientists discovered an ocean-borne fungus chomping through plastic trash suspended in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, as detailed in a, the fungus was discovered among the thin layers of other microbes that live in and around the floating plastic pile in the North Pacific.
According to the study, it's the fourth known marine fungus capable of consuming and breaking down plastic waste. Researchers found thatwas specifically able to break down UV-exposed carbon-based polyethylene, which is the type of plastic most commonly used to make consumer products, like water bottles and grocery bags — and the most pervasive form of plastic waste that pollutes Earth's oceans.
"It was already known that UV light breaks down plastic by itself mechanically," said study lead author Annika Vaksmaa, a marine biologist and biogeochemist at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research ,Before you get ahead of yourself: no, this discovery doesn't mean that you should start consuming single-use plastics with abandon.
Mitigating and removing the plastic that's already clogging Earth's waterways is still an important goal. But doing so unfortunatelySo in the fight to find a way to reduce ocean plastic, finding a new fungus capable of speeding up the plastic degradation process is an exciting new turn. But it's not a cure-all. According to the research, lab-grownwas observed to break down a given piece of UV-treated plastic at a rate of roughly 0.05 percent per day for every nine-day period.
Technology Technology Latest News, Technology Technology Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: SciTechDaily1 - 🏆 84. / 68 Read more »