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Abstract
Previous studies indicated that weathered conventional plastics and bioplastics pose ecotoxicological risks. Here, the effects of artificial and natural weathering on the ecotoxicity of three compostable bags and a conventional polyethylene (PE) bag are investigated. With that aim, a 21-day artificial indoor weathering experiment featuring UV light, UV-filtered light, and darkness was run simultaneously to a 120-day outdoor littoral mesocosm exposure featuring natural light, UV-filtered light, and shaded conditions. Acute toxicity of so-weathered plastic specimens was tested in vivo using the sensitive Paracentrotus lividus sea-urchin embryo test. PE was nontoxic from the beginning and did not gain toxicity due to UV weathering. In contrast, for bioplastics, dry artificial UV weathering increased toxicity in comparison to the dark control. Weathering in outdoor mesocosm led to a rapid loss of toxic properties due to leaching in rainwater. With a higher UV dosage, a plastic-type-dependent regain of toxicity was observed, most likely driven by enhanced availability or transformation of functional additives or due to bioplastic degradation products. PE showed moderate UV absorbance, while bioplastics showed high UV absorbance. This study highlights the potential of biodegradable plastics to pose enhanced ecotoxicological risk due to weathering under environmentally relevant conditions.
Figure 1. Experimental setup of the outdoor mesocosm
littoral habitats: LIT_R
(A), LIT_D (B), and LIT (C), and indoor artificial weathering experiment:
UV_T (D), UV_F (E), and UV_D (F). The experimental conditions for
the experimental setup are summarized in Table 1.
Figure 2. Absorbance of the four tested materials (BIO1—green,
BIO2—blue,
BIO3—red, and PE—gray) between 200 and 700 nm at t0. The UV-A and UV-B ranges are visualized by
light orange and light yellow fading bands, respectively. Notice the
high absorption shown by bioplastics but not by PE below 315 nm in
the UV-B range.
Figure 3. TU is shown in relation
to the UV radiation dose (DUV), expressed
as a proportion of the maximum dose. The UV dose is rescaled between
0 and 1 for easier viewing (DUV rescaled). Circles represent results
from the artificial weathering experiment, diamonds represent the
results from the sea-urchin embryo test conducted in light conditions,
up facing triangle the Mesocosm-2021, downfacing triangles the Mesocosm-2022
and squares show the TU of the unexposed materials. The color code
indicates if precipitation was present (blue) or absent (red) in the
experiment.
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