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Updated: Aug 2, 2026

Protocol for Microplastics Sampling on the Sea Surface and Sample Analysis
Published on: December 16, 2016
Secondary microplastics formation and colonized microorganisms on the surface of conventional and degradable plastic
Ruiqi Bao1, Zhiruo Cheng1, Yipeng Hou1
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:
Recently, biodegradable plastics (BPs) as an alternative of conventional plastics have been widely advocated and applied. However, there is still a large research gap between the formation of secondary microplastics (MPs) and colonized microorganisms on their surface under long-term aging in different environments. In this study, the generation of secondary MPs and the formation of surface biofilms on the micro-sized (3-5 mm) biodegradable plastic poly (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate) (BP-PBAT) and conventional plastic polyvinyl chloride (CP-PVC) under long-term UV aging was investigated. The results showed that hundreds and even thousands of MPs (185.53 ± 85.73 items/g - 1473.27 ± 143.67 items/g) were generated by BP-PBAT and CP-PVC after aged for 90 days, and the abundance of MPs produced by BP-PBAT was significantly higher than that of CP-PVC. Moreover, the α diversities and detected OTU number of biofilm communities formed on MPs increased with MPs-aging. The genes related to the formation of biofilms was significantly expressed on aged MPs and the genes related to human pathogens and diseases were also detected in enriching on MPs surface. Overall, BPs may lead to greater ecological risks as it releases thousands of secondary MPs after being aged, and their environmental behavior needs to be further explored.
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