As we know, we are dispersing too much plastic in the environment, and this does not get better with the Covid. So much so that microbes are learning to feed on them. The explanations of Mathilde Fontez, editor-in-chief of the new scientific magazine Epsiloon.
franceinfo: Mathilde does not get better with the health crisis we are experiencing, nature and its microbes are adapting and feeding on this plastic which has invaded everything …
Mathilde Fontez: Yes, this is the rather incredible result of a study carried out by a Swedish team. Bacteria, microorganisms in general, seem to have adapted to eat the plastic that we have scattered all over the planet, in a massive way. We recall the figures: we pour 9 to 14 million tonnes of plastic each year, in the oceans alone. 150 million have already accumulated.
Do these microbes digest plastic?
That’s quite right. They degrade it with enzymes. It is these enzymes that have been researched by scientists. Systematically, for the first time, on a global scale, at 169 sites in 39 countries. The researchers started with DNA samples already made, taken from the environment. They tracked down these enzymes.
And it is an understatement to say that they have found some. They have identified nearly 12,000 in the oceans. And over 18,000 in soils. And what they find is that the amount of enzymes depends on the level of pollution. There are more enzymes where there is more plastic: deep in the oceans for example, rather than on the surface.
Importantly, 60% of these enzymes do not belong to any known class. Which means that these are new ways of breaking down plastic: microbes have adapted to invent substances that degrade our waste. One in 4 organizations has learned to do it, according to researchers!
In a way, is this rather good news?
So that has a scary side to it. Our impact on ecosystems goes as far as completely transforming the metabolism of microorganisms. But yes, it is also a help to get rid of plastic.
These new enzymes will be studied closely. Because many teams have been working for years to find a way to digest plastic precisely, to recycle it. And microorganisms, or even insects, are studied for that. Except that until then, we only knew a few dozen enzymes capable of that. There, we completely change the world.
>>> Find this study here