(Nia Pure Nature) Society has a dangerous addiction to plastics and your exposure now includes chewing it.1 Several of the chemicals found in the production of plastic compounds are known to act as endocrine disruptors. Phthalates are one of those types of chemicals;2 they are also found in chewing gum.
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Nearly 29,000 Tons of COVID Plastic Now Floats in the Oceans, Study Finds
(Olivia Rosane) One of the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic has been the introduction of a new type of plastic waste in the form of single-use personal protective equipment (PPE).
Scientists Turn Plastic Waste Into Valuable Commodities, to Create a Bigger Market for Waste Materials
(Marc Schaus) As much as plastic has been maligned in recent years, it was actually a remarkable invention for humanity, allowing us to craft unique materials for essential items and everyday necessities. The problem is that so much of it ends up in landfills and oceans.
Scientists Create ‘Super Enzyme’ That Eats Plastic Bottles Six Times Faster than Previous Enzymes
(Andy Corbley) Enzymes produced in the stomachs of certain bacteria found during several high-profile discoveries have been combined by English scientists to create a super enzyme, reducing the time it takes for these chemicals to depolymerize, or breakdown plastic from weeks into mere hours.
Plastic-Eating Super Enzyme Could Help Solve The Plastic Waste Crisis
(Jordan Davidson) Scientists are on the brink of scaling up an enzyme that devours plastic. In the latest breakthrough, the enzyme degraded plastic bottles six times faster than previous research achieved, as The Guardian reported.
Newly-Developed Enzyme That Breaks Down Plastic Bottles in Hours is On Track to Change the Recycling Game
(Andy Corbley) Utilizing an enzyme found within composted leaves, scientists are now breaking down plastic all the way into a recyclable form in a matter of hours. Carbios, the French company responsible for the breakthrough, is already collaborating with Pepsi and L’Oréal to unleash industrial market-scale production of the new substance within five years.
Study finds BPA Levels in Humans Dramatically Underestimated
(Neuroscience News) Researchers have developed a more accurate method of measuring bisphenol A (BPA) levels in humans and found that exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemical is far higher than previously assumed.
New Plastic “Zeoform” Turns Hemp Into Almost Anything
(Joe Martino) What if today’s plastics could be made from materials which were not only sustainable, but non-toxic? At the moment, our plastics are made from oil, which means not only are we putting toxic chemicals into our atmosphere, but we are also filling our environment with products that cannot bio-degrade.
Chemistry Technique Developed By Researchers That Turns Plastic Into Clean Fuel
(Mayukh Saha) This is one waste problem that could instead be turned into a boon for our energy-starved planet. We are drowning in plastic and have already produced 8.3 billion tons of plastics in just 65 years, equivalent in weight to 25,000 Empire State Buildings. This will take ages to decompose and will cause incalculable harm to wildlife and the environment. But researchers have come up with a new technique that can convert the pollutants into eco-friendly fuel.