US EPA

3491049 

Journal Article 

Degradation of polystyrene and selected analogues by biological Fenton chemistry approaches: Opportunities and limitations 

Krueger, MC; Seiwert, B; Prager, A; Zhang, S; Abel, B; Harms, H; Schlosser, D 

2017 

Yes 

Chemosphere
ISSN: 0045-6535
EISSN: 1879-1298 

173 

520-528 

English 

28131922 

10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.01.089 

WOS:000395213700060 

Conventional synthetic polymers typically are highly resistant to microbial degradation, which is beneficial for their intended purpose but highly detrimental when such polymers get lost into the environment. Polystyrene is one of the most widespread of such polymers, but knowledge about its biological degradability is scarce. In this study, we investigated the ability of the polymer-degrading brown-rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum to attack polystyrene via Fenton chemistry driven by the redox-cycling of quinones. Indications of superficial oxidation were observed, but the overall effects on the polymer were weak. To assess factors constraining biodegradation of polystyrene, the small water-soluble model compounds ethylbenzene and isopropylbenzene (cumene) were also subjected to biodegradation by G. trabeum. Likewise, ethylbenzene sulfonate, cumene sulfonate and the dimer 1,3-diphenylbutane sulfonate were used as model compounds for comparison with polystyrene sulfonate, which G. trabeum can substantially depolymerise. All model compounds but cumene were degraded by G. trabeum and yielded a large variety of oxidised metabolites, suggesting that both the very poor bioavailability of polystyrene and its inert basic structure play important roles constraining biodegradability via biologically driven Fenton chemistry. 

; Gloeophyllum trabeum; bioavailability; biodegradability; biodegradation; brown-rot fungi; ethylbenzene; metabolites; oxidation; polystyrenes; quinones/