Soil-biodegradable plastic films do not decompose in a lake sediment over 9 months of incubation
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Published:2023-10-13
Issue:19
Volume:20
Page:4213-4220
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ISSN:1726-4189
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Container-title:Biogeosciences
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Biogeosciences
Author:
van Grinsven SigridORCID, Schubert CarstenORCID
Abstract
Abstract. Agriculture relies heavily on the use of plastic mulch films, which increase crop yields and can lower water demands. In recent years, soil-biodegradable mulch films have been marketed to replace the non-biodegradable, conventional polyethylene-based mulch films. These biodegradable mulch films are designed to be ploughed into the soil after use to be biodegraded in situ by soil
microorganisms. However, research has shown that part of the mulch film
material may be transported from the fields to neighboring environments,
including aquatic ecosystems. Research on potential biodegradation of
soil-biodegradable plastics in freshwater habitats is lacking. Here, we
investigated the mineralization of soil-biodegradable agricultural mulch
films in freshwater lake sediments of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. Two types
of commercial soil-biodegradable mulch films were incubated within lake
sediment cores, along with traditional polyethylene (PE) plastic, and the production of
CO2 and CH4 was followed over time relative to non-plastic-containing control sediments. After the 40-week incubation period, the films
were visually intact and showed no signs of mineralization. Gas analyses
showed no additional production of either CO2 or CH4 in the
degradable mulch film incubations, compared to the control or PE plastic
incubations. We conclude that these two used soil-biodegradable mulch films
have a low biodegradability in lake sediments, likely reflecting that the
microbial community structure in the lake sediment lacks active microbial
degraders. Our results highlight the importance of preventing transport of
soil-biodegradable mulch films from agricultural soils to surrounding
aquatic environments.
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Subject
Earth-Surface Processes,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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