The abstract of an October 21, 2022, American Chemical Society Environmental Science and Technology article https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c04706 by researchers with China Fudan University notes that “… Pregnancy and infancy are vulnerable times for detrimental environmental exposures. However, the exposure situation of microplastics (MPs) for mother–infant pairs and the adverse health effect of MPs are largely unknown […]
Author: Jack Cooper
Biorecycling of Plastic – GAO Issues Science and Technology Spotlight
On November 21, 2022, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a “Spotlight” on “Biorecycling of Plastic” https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106261/ – Application of this new technology “may help address plastic waste issues” – “… biorecycling is an emerging technology that uses microbes … to break down plastic into its basic components … monomers. The monomers can then be recombined […]
Microplastics – Effects on Soil Water Repellency and Capillary Flow Studied
The abstract of a July 26, 2022 Vadose Zone Journal article https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20215 by researchers with Switzerland ETH Zurich, Germany Univ. of Bayreuth and Switzerland Paul-Scherrer-Institut reports that “… little is known about the implications of MP on soil physical properties. We hypothesize that low wettability of MP induces soil water repellency, depending on MP content […]
Recycling – Spain’s New Law Critiqued
A November 19, 2022, Deutsche Welle article https://www.dw.com/en/with-new-rules-for-recycling-spain-declares-war-on-waste/a-63821518 offers comments on “Spain’s new recycling rules” which “… Passed in April … will come into full effect in 2023 … A new tax is being imposed on single-use plastic containers, and another on waste sent to landfills or for incineration. The aim is to help Spain reduce the […]
Microplastics – Presence in Fish Intestinal Tracts Studied
According to the abstract of a March 2023 Food Control article https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2022.109503 by researchers with the University of Ghana, Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, UK University of Exeter, UK University of York, and Scottish Environment Protection Agency who “… examined the gastro-intestinal tracts (guts) of 160 fish species obtained from Nigerian coastal waters […]
Plastic Packaging Marketing Claims – Update on Earth Island Institute’s lawsuit against Coca-Cola
A November 16, 2022 Kelley Drye Advertising Law and Marketing Law article https://www.adlawaccess.com/2022/11/articles/coca-cola-beats-false-advertising-suit-over-aspirational-claims/#lxb_mct-form-1 addresses “… Earth Island Institute’s lawsuit against Coca-Cola … focused on aspirational and forward-looking statements … The DC Superior Court determined https://www.pbwt.com/content/uploads/2022/11/Order-Granting-Motion-to-Dismiss.pdf that many of the challenged statements are aspirational and do not including anything that can be measured to determine whether they are […]
Home Compostablility of Biodegradable Plastic Packaging Studied
The abstract of a November 3, 2022, Frontiers in Sustainability article by researchers with UK University College London https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2022.942724/full presents “… results and analysis on home compostable packaging … Using a citizen science approach, we engaged with 9,701 UK citizens geographically spread across the UK … 1,648 citizens performed home compost experiments to test the […]
Effect of Conventional and Biodegradable Microplastics on Soil Microbial Biomass, Bacterial Community Composition and CO2 Development Studied
A February 2023 Applied Soil Ecology article https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2022.104714 by researchers with Germany University of Bayreuth report: “… the response of soil CO2 emissions to various types, quantities, and sizes of microplastic is not well understood. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on soil microbial biomass, bacterial community composition and CO2 development. […]
Resolving Anonymity of Plastic Materials Explored
The abstract of an October 18, 2022, Polymer Chemistry article https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/PY/d2py01180h by researchers with Australia Queensland University of Technology report: “… Resolving the anonymity of plastic materials is critical … we explore how contemporary polymer chemistry – in the form of sequence-defined polymers and their enormous information depth potential, fused with progress in law and […]
Process for the Removal of Micro and Nano Size Plastic Particles from Seawater Reported
The abstract of an August 24, 2022 Materials Today article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369702122002103/ by researchers with Princeton University and others reports that “… we demonstrate the transformation of standard egg-white (EW) proteins into an ultralightweight G-CF aerogel with a multiscale structure. The resulting covalently-bonded hierarchical structure, derived from the complex underlying protein configuration, exhibits a density that is two […]