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Updated: Sep 26, 2025

Isolation of Native Soil Microorganisms with Potential for Breaking Down Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films Used in Agriculture
Published on: May 10, 2013
Aging of biodegradable blended plastic generates microplastics and attached bacterial communities in air and aqueous
Ruiqi Bao1, Jingrun Pu1, Chaolin Xie1
1Key Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province (Hainan University), Haikou, Hainan Province 570228, PR China; College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan Province 570228, PR China.
Abstract:
The use of biodegradable plastics (BPs) has been widely promoted in recent years, but before their complete degradation, the phase of microplastics (MPs) is inevitable. However, little information concerning the production of MPs from blended polymers is available. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of MPs produced from blended plastics and the development of biofilms on plastic surfaces under long-term aging. Here, three blended materials (i.e., PBAT (53%)+PLA (10%)+Starch (20%), PBAT (80%)+Starch (20%), HDPE (60%)+CaCO3 (40%)) were aged for 90 days in air, deionized (DI) water and seawater. The results showed massive production of MPs (9653 ± 3920-20,348 ± 5857 items/g) from blended plastics accompanied by a large quantity of flocculent substances during 90 days aging period. Furthermore, the richness of bacteria communities on hydrophobic plastics (i.e., PBAT (53%)+PLA (10%)+Starch (20%), PBAT (80%)+Starch (20%)) was higher than hydrophilic plastics (i.e., HDPE (60%)+CaCO3 (40%)), and bacterial communities attached to blended plastics exhibited significantly variation with aging times. Overall, promoting the marketable application of blended plastics is risky if their environmental behavior is not effectively addressed.
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