Abstract
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is a conventionally used polymer and possesses diverse applications in various industries due to its low cost, excellent strength, and numerous mechano-thermal properties. Unfortunately, the deliberate and unconscious release of excess polythene in the environment causes serious ecological threat. To deal with this issue, biodegradation of LDPE was considered using different fungal strains, namely Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus versicolor, and Fusarium solani isolated from local municipal dump yard in Chennai, India. For degradation study, the polymers were subjected to microbial cultures for 60 days under laboratory conditions. The extent of the degradation was quantified in terms of the weight loss of the LDPE films, pH changes of the culture medium, mineralization, and analysed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. FESEM micrographs revealed the fungal colonization on the polythene matrix due to their metabolic activities, whereas FTIR spectra showed the changes in chemical nature of the polymer films and confirmed the biodegradation of LDPE. By comparing the reduction in dry weight of LDPE strips and Sturm test results, A. versicolor strain was found to be a potential LDPE-degrading candidate than A. flavus and F. solani and, hopefully, can address the global issue of polymer pollution.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ali SS, Qazi IA, Arshad M, Arshad M, Khan Z, Voice TC, Mehmood CT (2016) Photocatalytic degradation of low density polyethylene (LDPE) films using titania nanotubes. Environ Nanotechnol Monit Manag 5:44–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enmm.2016.01.001
Álvarez-Barragán J, Domínguez-Malfavón L, Vargas-Suárez M, González-Hernández R, Aguilar-Osorio G, Loza-Tavera H (2016) Biodegradative activities of selected environmental fungi on a polyester polyurethane varnish and polyether polyurethane foams. Appl Environ Microbiol 82:5225–5235. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01344-16
Barnes DKA, Galgani F, Thompson RC, Barlaz M (2009) Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments. Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci 364:1985–1998. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0205
Chatterjee S, Roy B, Roy D, Banerjee R (2010) Enzyme-mediated biodegradation of heat treated commercial polyethylene by Staphylococcal species. Polym Degrad Stab 95:195–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2009.11.025
Chen S, Su L, Chen J, Wu J (2013) Cutinase: characteristics, preparation, and application. Biotechnol Adv 31:1754–1767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2013.09.005
Das MP, Kumar S (2015) An approach to low-density polyethylene biodegradation by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. 3 Biotech 5:81–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-014-0205-1
Das MP, Livingstone JR, Veluswamy P, Das J (2017) Exploration of Wedelia chinensis leaf-assisted silver nanoparticles for antioxidant, antibacterial and in vitro cytotoxic applications. J Food Drug Anal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfda.2017.07.014
de Gonzalo G, Colpa DI, Habib MHM, Fraaije MW (2016) Bacterial enzymes involved in lignin degradation. J Biotechnol 236:110–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2016.08.011
Dřímal P, Hoffmann J, Družbík M (2007) Evaluating the aerobic biodegradability of plastics in soil environments through GC and IR analysis of gaseous phase. Polym Test 26:729–741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2007.03.008
Gajendiran A, Krishnamoorthy S, Abraham J (2016) Microbial degradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) by Aspergillus clavatus strain JASK1 isolated from landfill soil. 3 Biotech 6:52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-016-0394-x
Gu J-D (2003) Microbiological deterioration and degradation of synthetic polymeric materials: recent research advances. Int Biodeterior Biodegrad 52:69–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0964-8305(02)00177-4
Hahladakis JN, Velis CA, Weber R, Iacovidou E, Purnell P (2018) An overview of chemical additives present in plastics: migration, release, fate and environmental impact during their use, disposal and recycling. J Hazard Mater 344:179–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.10.014
Kali A, Srirangaraj S, Charles MVP (2014) A modified fungal slide culture technique. Indian J Pathol Microbiol 57:356–357. https://doi.org/10.4103/0377-4929.134756
Khan S, Nadir S, Shah ZU et al (2017) Biodegradation of polyester polyurethane by Aspergillus tubingensis. Environ Pollut 225:469–480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.03.012
Kim DY, Rhee YH (2003) Biodegradation of microbial and synthetic polyesters by fungi. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 61:300–308. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-002-1205-3
Kim MN, Yoon MG (2010) Isolation of strains degrading poly(Vinyl alcohol) at high temperatures and their biodegradation ability. Polym Degrad Stab 95:89–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2009.09.014
Kowalczyk A, Martin TJ, Price OR, Snape JR, Roger Egmond RAV, Finnegan CJ, Schäfer H, Davenport RJ, Bending GD (2015) Refinement of biodegradation tests methodologies and the proposed utility of new microbial ecology techniques. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 111:9–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2014.09.021
Li S, Xu S, He L, Xu F, Wang Y, Zhang L (2010) Photocatalytic degradation of polyethylene plastic with polypyrrole/TiO2 nanocomposite as photocatalyst. Polym Plast Technol Eng 49:400–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/03602550903532166
Ojha N, Pradhan N, Singh S, Barla A, Shrivastava A, Khatua P, Rai V, Bose S (2017) Evaluation of HDPE and LDPE degradation by fungus, implemented by statistical optimization. Sci Rep 7:39515. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39515
Parte S, Sirisha VL, D’Souza JS (2017) Biotechnological applications of marine enzymes from algae, bacteria, fungi, and sponges. Adv Food Nutr Res 80:75–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.afnr.2016.10.005
Pramila R, Ramesh KV (2011) Biodegradation of low density polyethylene (LDPE) by fungi isolated from marine water—a SEM analysis. Afr J Microbiol Res 5:5013–5018. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajmr11.670
Rajandas H, Parimannan S, Sathasivam K, Ravichandran M, Su L (2012) A novel FTIR-ATR spectroscopy based technique for the estimation of low-density polyethylene biodegradation. Polym Test 31:1094–1099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2012.07.015
Sato S, Saika A, Shinozaki Y, Watanabe T, Suzuki K, Sameshima-Yamashita Y, Fukuoka T, Habe H, Morita T, Kitamoto H (2017) Degradation profiles of biodegradable plastic films by biodegradable plastic-degrading enzymes from the yeast Pseudozyma antarctica and the fungus Paraphoma sp. B47-9. Polym Degrad Stab 141:26–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2017.05.007
Sen SK, Raut S (2015) Microbial degradation of low density polyethylene (LDPE): a review. J Environ Chem Eng 3:462–473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2015.01.003
Shabani F, Kumar L, Esmaeili A (2015) A modelling implementation of climate change on biodegradation of Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Aspergillus niger in soil. Glob Ecol Conserv 4:388–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2015.08.003
Shah AA, Hasan F, Hameed A, Ahmed S (2008) Biological degradation of plastics: a comprehensive review. Biotechnol Adv 26:246–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2007.12.005
Sturm RN (1973) Biodegradability of nonionic surfactants: screening test for predicting rate and ultimate biodegradation. J Am Oil Chem Soc 50:159–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02640470
Tokiwa Y, Calabia BP (2004) Degradation of microbial polyesters. Biotechnol Lett 26:1181–1189. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:bile.0000036599.15302.e5
Tribedi P, Sil AK (2013) Low-density polyethylene degradation by Pseudomonas sp. AKS2 biofilm. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 20:4146–4153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1378-y
Vuorinen E, Nhlapo N, Mafa T, Karger-Kocsis J (2013) Thermooxidative degradation of LDPE nanocomposites: effect of surface treatments of fumed silica and boehmite alumina. Polym Degrad Stab 98:2297–2305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2013.08.011
Weber RWS, Pitt D (2000) Teaching techniques for mycology: 11. Riddell’s slide cultures. Mycologist 14:118–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0269-915x(00)80088-9
Yang Y, Chen J, Wu W-M, Zhao J, Yang J (2015) Complete genome sequence of Bacillus sp. YP1, a polyethylene-degrading bacterium from waxworm’s gut. J Biotechnol 200:77–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2015.02.034
Yousif E, Haddad R (2013) Photodegradation and photostabilization of polymers, especially polystyrene: review. SpringerPlus 2:398. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-398
Zahra S, Abbas SS, Mahsa M-T, Mohsen N (2010) Biodegradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) by isolated fungi in solid waste medium. Waste Manag 30:396–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2009.09.027
Acknowledgements
The authors convey their thanks to Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, for providing laboratory facilities. The authors also acknowledge DST unit on Nanoscience, IIT Madras, for providing support in carrying out FESEM and FTIR analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Das, M.P., Kumar, S. & Das, J. Fungal-mediated deterioration and biodegradation study of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) isolated from municipal dump yard in Chennai, India. Energ. Ecol. Environ. 3, 229–236 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-018-0085-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-018-0085-z