Plastic-eating bacteria turn waste into useful starting materials for other products

Microbial Upcycling of Waste PET

03-Nov-2023 - Mountains of used plastic bottles get thrown away every day, but microbes could potentially tackle this problem. Now, researchers in ACS Central Science report that they’ve developed a plastic-eating E. coli that can efficiently turn polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste into adipic acid, which ...

A taste for plastic

Discovered for the first time: New deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

27-Sep-2023 - Plastic pollution is increasingly affecting the health of coasts and oceans. One well-known problem is plastic bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. A new study involving scientists from Professor Ruth Schmitz-Streit's research group at Kiel University has shown for the first ...

How nanoplastics can influence metabolism

13-Mar-2023 - PET, the plastic used to make bottles, for example, is ubiquitous in our natural environment. In a joint study, scientists from Leipzig University and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) investigated the negative effects that tiny plastic PET particles can have on the metabolism ...

Bioplastic bottles also keep cooking oil fresh for a long time

No transfer of compounds from the bottle material into the oil detected

22-Feb-2023 - Bottles made of bioplastic protect cooking oil from oxidative spoilage (rancidity) to a similar extent as PET bottles. In addition, even less taste- and odor-impairing substances were formed. This is the result of a recent study published in the journal "Food Packaging and Shelf Life" by ...

Reusable plastic bottles release hundreds of chemicals

Have you ever experienced the strange taste of water after it has been in a reusable plastic bottle for a while?

15-Feb-2022 - Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have found several hundred different chemical substances in tap water stored in reusable plastic bottles. Several of these substances are potentially harmful to human health. There is a need for better regulation and manufacturing standards for ...

Adsorbent material developed with PET bottles for the removal of antibiotics from water

The porous carbon composite is applicable to various fields

27-Apr-2020 - South Korea with its high antibiotic use is categorized as a country at high risk of the emergence of multi drug-resistant bacteria, or so-called "super bacteria." According to the Ministry of Environment, antibiotic substances have been detected at livestock wastewater treatment facilities, ...

Endocrine disruptors impair human sperm function

13-May-2014 - A plethora of endocrine-disrupting chemicals interfere with human sperm function in a way that may have a negative impact on fertilization. These are the findings of a German - Danish team of researchers from the Center of Advanced European Studies and Research in Bonn, Germany, and the ...

Bottled tea beverages may contain fewer polyphenols than brewed tea

24-Aug-2010 - The first measurements of healthful antioxidant levels in commercial bottled tea beverages has concluded that health-conscious consumers may not be getting what they pay for: healthful doses of those antioxidants, or "poylphenols," that may ward off a range of diseases. Scientists reported at ...

New microchip technology performs 1,000 chemical reactions at once

Technique may accelerate drug discovery for cancer, other diseases

05-Aug-2009 - Flasks, beakers and hot plates may soon be a thing of the past in chemistry labs. Instead of handling a few experiments on a bench top, scientists may simply pop a microchip into a computer and instantly run thousands of chemical reactions, with results - literally shrinking the lab down to the ...

Plastics chemical retards growth, function of adult reproductive cells

10-Jul-2009 - Bisphenol A, a chemical widely used in plastics and known to cause reproductive problems in the offspring of pregnant mice exposed to it, also has been found to retard the growth of follicles of adult mice and hinder their production of steroid hormones, researchers report. Their study is the ...