- Title: Microbes could have evolved to feed on plastic
- Date: 12th July 2017
- Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (JUNE 26, 2017) (REUTERS) RESEARCHERS BLAI VIDIELLA AND NURIA CONDE WORKING AT THE LABORATORY VARIOUS OF RESEARCHER BLAI VIDIELLA AT LABORATORY (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYSTEMS COMPLEX LABORATORY RESEARCHER OF POMPEU FABRA UNIVERSITY AND EVOLVED BIOLOGY INSTITUTE (UPF-CSIC), BLAI VIDIELLA, SAYING: "The explanation is that there are some microbes that are degrading plastic because they live there or because they use it for something and this makes plastic constant in time and is not increasing the input rate that humans are putting to a system." SMALL PIECES OF COLORED PLASTIC HANDS PUTTING THE PLASTIC PIECES ON A WEIGHING SCALE WEIGHING SCALE SCREEN SHOWING THE PLASTICS WEIGHT HANDS INSERTING THE PLASTIC PIECES INTO A CRYSTAL CONTAINER FILLED WITH SEA WATER AND MICROBES CRYSTAL CONTAINER MIXING THE SEA WATER, MICROBES AND THE PIECES OF PLASTIC (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYSTEMS COMPLEX LABORATORY RESEARCHER OF POMPEU FABRA UNIVERSITY AND EVOLVED BIOLOGY INSTITUTE (UPF-CSIC), BLAI VIDIELLA, SAYING: "In the future we expect that plastic will be increasing in the rate of input because humans are creating more plastic and there's a lot of plastic in the landfills that will be passively going to the ocean but we expect that microbes continue eating this plastic and maintaining the observable and measurable plastic constant." HANDS USING A COMPUTER MOUSE RESERARCHER VIDIELLA WORKING WITH THE COMPUTER RESEARCHER NURIA CONDE ARRIVING AT LABORATORY CONDE'S HANDS MANIPULATING DNA GEL AND A LABORATORY MACHINE CONDE WALKING IN LABORATORY HALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYSTEMS COMPLEX LABORATORY RESEARCHER OF POMPEU FABRA UNIVERSITY AND EVOLVED BIOLOGY INSTITUTE (UPF-CSIC), NURIA CONDE, SAYING: "What is clear is that all microbes have the capacity to evolve and the species that is able to take the plastic as a food resource has a great advantage on the other ones and that's why they can increase in number." CONDE OPENING THE DOOR OF A SMALL FRIDGE PLASTIC BOXES WITH MICROBIAL SAMPLES INSIDE THE FRIDGE / CONDE'S HANDS TAKING ONE BOX AND CLOSING THE FRIDGE DOOR MICROBIAL SAMPLE BOX UNDER THE MICROSCOPE MICROBIAL SAMPLE BOX UNDER THE MICROSCOPE / VIDIELLA'S FACE LOOKING THROUGH THE MICROSCOPE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYSTEMS COMPLEX LABORATORY RESEARCHER OF POMPEU FABRA UNIVERSITY AND EVOLVED BIOLOGY INSTITUTE (UPF-CSIC), NURIA CONDE, SAYING: "There are parts good and some no good because since these microbes can destroy the plastics we have micro micro plastics so tinier that you need a microscope to look at them and that means that all the ecosystem, all the organisms in the food chain can eat plastics, from the ones that are invisibles, microorganisms to whales, everybody can eat plastics." VARIOUS OF RESERACHER CONDE WORKING WITH DNA SAMPLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYSTEMS COMPLEX LABORATORY RESEARCHER OF POMPEU FABRA UNIVERSITY AND EVOLVED BIOLOGY INSTITUTE (UPF-CSIC), NURIA CONDE, SAYING: "It means an open window for new research to see what's going on, if it's going to be bad or good, how can we control and take profit, if we can push further than behavior but that doesn't mean people can keep throwing away the microplastics but that means there's probably a solution for that." VARIOUS OF VIDIELLA AND CONDE RESEARCHERS WORKING AT THE LABORATORY PARC DE RECERCA BIOMEDICA DE BARCELONA SIGN ON THE STREET FACADE OF RESEARCH CENTER "PARC DE RECERCA BIOMEDICA DE BARCELONA" "PARC DE RECERCA BIOMEDICA DE BARCELONA, PRBB" SIGN ON THE STREET MAIN ENTRANCE WITH PEOPLE
- Embargoed: 26th July 2017 09:54
- Keywords: plastic microbes ocean sea Barcelona eating
- Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN / THE BIG ISLAND, HAWAII, UNITED STATES
- City: BARCELONA, SPAIN / THE BIG ISLAND, HAWAII, UNITED STATES
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0026PEV4UZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Surveys of ocean areas where floating plastic accumulates, such as the North Atlantic gyre, have found far less plastic than expected, perhaps less than a tenth as much.
A mathematical formula developed by Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona researchers Blai Vidiella and Nuria Conde could not explain the trend. The pair believes a population boom in microbes that evolved to biodegrade plastic is the explanation.
Conde told Reuters: "What is clear is that all microbes have the capacity to evolve and the species that is able to take the plastic as a food resource has a great advantage on the other ones and that's why they can increase in number."
According to Vidiella, "in the future we expect that plastic input will increase at the same rate because humans are creating more plastic and there's a lot of plastic in landfills that will be passively going to the ocean. But we expect that microbes will continue eating this plastic and maintain the observable and measurable plastic constant."
However, the evolution of plastic eating microbes might not be an entirely positive outcome.
Conde said: "Since these microbes can destroy the plastics we have micro, micro, plastics so tiny that you need a microscope to look at them. That means that all the ecosystems, all the organisms in the food chain can eat plastics, from those that are invisible to whales. Everybody could be eating plastics."
In a separate study, environmental chemist Alexandra ter Halle, of the Laboratoire des IMRCP, said that additives within plastics could be released and enter the food chain if the plastic part biodegrades.
Linda Amaral-Zettler, of the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, suggested that floating plastic might be simply sinking to the seafloor or breaking into microscopic pieces that slip through the nets of research vessels.
Plastics are being found in the stomachs of seabirds and turtles, which can then starve to death.
A 2006 Greenpeace report, "Plastic Debris in the World's Oceans" said at least 267 species -- including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish -- are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris.
Small crustaceans called amphipods, which populate the deepest recesses of the Pacific, were found to contain disturbingly large levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the organism's fatty tissue.
Amphipod samples brought to the surface contained chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), commonly used as electrical insulators and flame retardants. Use of the former was banned in the 1970s.
The authors believe the pollutants were probably transported to the trenches through contaminated plastic debris and dead animals sinking to the bottom of the ocean. These are often consumed by amphipods and other fauna, which are then eaten by larger fauna, beginning their journey up the food chain. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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