University of Gothenburg, Department of Marine Sciences Sven Lovén Research Centre, Kristineberg 566, 45178 Fiskebäckskil, Sweden.
University of Gothenburg, Department of Marine Sciences Sven Lovén Research Centre, Kristineberg 566, 45178 Fiskebäckskil, Sweden.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2018 Oct;135:187-194. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.07.015. Epub 2018 Jul 13.
Polyethylene is a commonly used polymer in plastic products and is often found as marine litter. Nevertheless there is limited knowledge about what happens to the material when it ends up in the sea. Polyethylene films were therefore thermally oxidised to four different levels of degradation. The films were then placed in stainless-steel cages in the sea off the Swedish west coast for 12 summer weeks. Subsamples were analysed with respect to biofouling, degradation and buoyancy. All levels showed a continued oxidation in the field. The pre-degraded films started fragmenting and the non-degraded films showed a decrease in tensile strain. All levels showed increased biofouling with higher presence of filamentous algae and bryozoans on pre-degraded materials. The density (kg·m) of the films was seen to increase slightly, and the apparent density for the pre-degraded films (density of the films with biofilm) showed a strong increase, which resulted in sinking.
聚乙烯是塑料产品中常用的聚合物，通常作为海洋垃圾被发现。然而，当它最终进入海洋时，人们对它会发生什么知之甚少。因此，我们将聚乙烯薄膜进行了不同程度的热氧化降解实验。然后，我们将这些薄膜放置在瑞典西海岸海域的不锈钢笼子中，经过 12 个夏季周的实验。我们对生物附着、降解和浮力等方面进行了分析。所有的实验结果都表明，在实验场中，薄膜仍在持续氧化。预先降解的薄膜开始破碎，而未降解的薄膜的拉伸应变减少。所有的实验结果都表明，生物附着的程度更高，丝状藻类和苔藓动物在预先降解的材料上更为常见。薄膜的密度（kg·m）略有增加，而具有生物膜的预先降解薄膜的表观密度（薄膜密度）则大幅增加，导致薄膜下沉。
