Open AccessDegradation of polystyrene by tropical bacterial and fungal isolates
Author(s) -
Olayiwola Akerele,
Olanike Maria Buraimoh,
I. Humphrey,
M.O. Ilori
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of applied science and environmental management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2659-1499
pISSN - 2659-1502
DOI - 10.4314/jasem.v25i9.26
Subject(s) - polystyrene , biodegradation , laboratory flask , chemistry , xylene , degradation (telecommunications) , phenol , food science , environmental chemistry , toluene , polymer , organic chemistry , telecommunications , computer science
Plastic waste is one of the major contributing factors to the growth of municipal solid wastes globally. It is a threat to public health and negatively impact the aquatic and terrestrial animals due to its persistence in the environment. Bacterial and fungal isolates were tested for their ability to degrade polystyrene. The cultures were grown on mineral salts medium supplemented with polystyrene as the sole carbon source in 250 mL conical flasks. The polystyrene reduced from 1 g (week 0) to 0.7g (week 7). Statistical analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) shows a significant difference between the reduction in weight of polystyrene in the experimental flask compared to the control (P<0.05). Gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis of biodegradation products shows that some toxic polystyrene constituents such as O-xylene, cis-9-hexadecenal and 3-phenol pentadecyl were removed.