Microbial Degradation of HDPE Secondary Microplastics: Preliminary Results

Plastic debris represents a significant problem among the various problems facing the marine environment. In this work, we aim to explore the ability of two marine indigenous communities to degrade secondary microplastics. Polyethylene (low-density as well as high-density polyethylene) films were exposed to UV radiation until they were fragmented to microplastics under mild mechanical stress. Next, 50mg of sterile microplastics with size 2 mm–250 μm was added into sterile flasks and was incubated separately with these two pelagic microbiomes. A significant decrease in the weight of microplastics was determined along the experimental period, implying the potential ability of indigenous communities to in situ degrade secondary microplastics. Moreover, the protein content marginally decreased while carbohydrate content of both treatments increased at this time interval. Accordingly, the populations increased along experimental period.