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Products based on biodegradable bioplastics must pass a series of standardized tests to demonstrate that they are able to biodegrade within a certain time in specific environments. However, for these products to effectively contribute to the reduction of plastic waste, they must be designed to biodegrade in the most applicable environment, namely, their most logical end-of-life scenario. For example, for food products such as coffee capsules, tea bags and lightweight supermarket bags, the most recommended scenarios are composting plants because this waste can be industrially managed with organic waste streams to become compost. On the other hand, products for agricultural applications such as mulch films and controlled release fertilizer coatings, whose end of life is soil, should be biodegradable in this natural environment. Likewise, products used in aquaculture and fisheries, which often end up in rivers and the sea, being biodegradable in these media, could have a lower environmental impact compared to conventional plastic products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While biodegradation is viewed as a major advantage in the fight against plastic pollution, the ability to claim any environmental benefits is possible only when it can be proven that these biodegradable products have no negative effects on the ecosystem. This makes it important to assess any ecotoxicological effects of biodegradable plastics, given that additives, metabolites and secondary compounds may be released during product disintegration and biodegradation and may have a negative impact on the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As in the case of biodegradation, ecotoxicity studies on biodegradable bioplastics should be linked to the product\u2019s end-of-life scenario. For biodegradable products under composting conditions, ecotoxicity is assessed in compost derived from this process in terms of its potential impact on agricultural soil and, therefore, plant health. The test is performed in accordance with OECD Guideline 208[1]<\/sup> and Annex E of EN 13432:2001[2]<\/sup> standard by comparing the germination and biomass yield of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants exposed during growth to different proportions of agricultural substrate and either test compost (containing biodegradation remnants of the tested product) or control compost (with no added test materials). The test compost and control compost are both obtained from a preliminary stage in which the actual composting process is simulated for a predetermined period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the case of biodegradable products in soil[3]<\/sup>, the ecotoxicity of the remaining compounds in the environment after biodegradation is assessed in plants by following a protocol similar to the one mentioned above, and in earthworms. Acute toxicity testing using earthworms is based on OECD Guideline 207[4]<\/sup> or EN ISO 11268-1 as modified in accordance with Annex C of EN 17033:2018[5]<\/sup>. In this test, adult earthworms (Eisenia fetida<\/em> or Eisenia andrei<\/em>) are kept in contact with soil for a predetermined period. After this time, toxicity is assessed by comparing the earthworm survival rate and their average weight in test soil and control soil. The ecotoxicity of these products can also be assessed by means of a nitrification inhibition test with soil microorganisms in accordance with ISO 15685[6]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For products that biodegrade in fresh or sea water, the most common test is based on the OECD Guideline 202[7]<\/sup>, which uses Daphnia<\/em> (mainly Daphnia magna<\/em>) as the test organism. Daphnia<\/em> are the aquatic invertebrate most commonly used as a reference model for toxicity testing. Despite being a freshwater species, its ability to tolerate up to 20% salinity means it can be found in different water bodies. The test involves determining how Daphnia<\/em> survival is affected by 48 hours of exposure to different concentrations of test water compared to control water. In addition to this test, growth inhibition studies of a unicellular alga (Phaeodactylum tricornutum<\/em>) can also be applied by comparing its cell density when developing in test water and control water, in accordance with ISO 10253:2006[8]<\/sup>, as well as studies of the survival rate of copepods of the genera Acartia<\/em> and Tisbe<\/em> in the larval stage (nauplius), in accordance with ISO 14669[9]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The studies described above are a tool for ensuring the environmental safety of biodegradable plastics and could accelerate their market entry and the transition to the circular economy. In addition, they could enable the industries of biodegradable plastic feedstock, intermediate products and end products to align with the following Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13 Climate Action, SDG 14 Life Below Water and SDG 15 Life on Land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/sup> Terrestrial Plants, Growth Test, OECD Guideline for Testing of Chemicals 208.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/sup> UNE-EN 13432:2001\/AC Packaging: requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation. Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [3]<\/sup> Ferreira-Filipe, D. A., Pa\u00e7o, A., Natal-da-Luz, T., Sousa, J. P., Saraiva, J. A., Duarte, A. C., … & Silva, A. L. P. (2022). Are mulch biofilms used in agriculture an environmentally friendly solution? – An insight into their biodegradability and ecotoxicity using key organisms in soil ecosystems. The Science of the Total Environment, 828, 154269.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [4]<\/sup> Earthworm, Acute Toxicity Tests, OECD Guideline for Testing of Chemicals 207.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [5]<\/sup> EN 17033 Plastics – Biodegradable mulch films for use in agriculture and horticulture – Requirements and test methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [6]<\/sup> ISO 15685:2004, Soil quality – Determination of potential nitrification and inhibition of nitrification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [7]<\/sup> Daphnia sp. Acute Immobilisation Test, OECD Guideline for Testing of Chemicals 202.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [8]<\/sup> ISO 10253:2006 Water quality – Marine algal growth inhibition test with Skeletonema costatum and Phaeodactylum tricornutum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [9]<\/sup> ISO 14669:1999 Water quality – Determination of acute lethal toxicity to marine copepods (Copepoda, Crustacea).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Biodegradable bioplastics are presented as a tool in the fight against pollution caused by the rapid rise in the generation of plastics and inadequate waste management. These bioplastics can come from renewable or fossil sources and are characterized by their ability to decompose, through the action of microorganisms, into carbon dioxide, water, mineral salts and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Biodegradability is not something to be taken for granted","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[12365,11270,5847,12239,6406],"supplier":[11215],"class_list":["post-130826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-additives","tag-biodegradability","tag-bioplastics","tag-compostability","tag-environment","supplier-aimplas-asociacion-de-investigacion-de-materiales-plasticos-y-conexas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130826\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130826"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=130826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/s3-prod.sustainableplastics.com\/styles\/width_792\/s3\/_MG_0160_0.jpg\")