cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/16488358
Scientists Find Plastic-Eating Fungus Feasting on Great Pacific Garbage Patch
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/16488358
Scientists Find Plastic-Eating Fungus Feasting on Great Pacific Garbage Patch
I would really like to know what’s the resulting materials after the breaking down, but the article doesn’t say :(
Well, given what we know about most commercial plastics, which are all derived from oil/complex hydrocarbons, the consumed plastic could be broken down into condensed carbon? Or would it be carbon gases? I’m speculating based on just what I know about plastics, what they are and how they’re made.
The fungi are likely oxidizing the plastic to CO2, probably via many metabolic intermediates. This is likely driven by the fact that plastics are chemically reduced - a rich source of chemical potential energy. Accessing that energy requires enzymatic conversion to a less reduced state, culminating in the fully oxidized CO2 molecule.
So, a byproduct of this process is, potentially, greenhouse gases? Yay.
And some toxic compounds.
I’ve heard living organisms tend to output carbondioxide
That’s because this narrative is at odds with another environmentalist narrative.
Carbon compounds are oxidized by non plant organisms to form carbon dioxide.
The resulting material is fungus? That’s how eating works