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New study reveals how long plastic straws take to degrade in the ocean
A new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found that some plastic straws break down quicker than others, while others dont break down at all.�
Latest figures suggest that there are 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws on the world’s coastlines. But while they are everywhere, scientists still dont know how long they take to break down into equally harmful microplastics.�
The researchers used straws from eight materials
In a study published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, WHOI scientists Collin Ward, Bryan James, Chris Reddy, and Yanchen Sun set out to identify which plastics are the worst for the ocean. They teamed up with bioplastic manufacturing company Eastman, who provided funding and materials for the experiment.
To conduct their study, the team suspended eight different straws in a tank flowing continuously with seawater from Martha’s Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts. The straws were made from CDA, PHA, paper, PLA, and PP.�
“We lack a firm understanding of how long plastics last in the ocean, so we’ve been designing methods to measure how fast these materials degrade,” Ward said. “It turns out, in this case, there are some bioplastic straws that actually degrade fairly quickly, which is good news.”
Over a period of 16 weeks, the researchers monitored the straws for signs of degradation.
“My interest has been to understand the fate, persistence, and toxicity of plastic and how we can use that information to design next-generation materials that are better for people and the planet,” James said. “We have the unique capability where we can bring the environment of the ocean on land in our tanks at the environmental systems laboratory. It gives us a very controlled environment with natural seawater.”
The results offered key insight�
They found that the CDA, PHA, and paper straws degraded by up to 50%, which pointed to an ocean life span of 10-20 months. Shockingly, the PLA and PP straws were practically untouched. Eco-friendly straws provided by Eastman were shown to degrade 184% faster than their plastic counterparts.�
“This study can be immensely valuable for straw manufacturers by providing informed and transparent data when selecting a material for straws, said Jeff Carbeck, Eastman’s Vice President of Corporate Innovation.
Even more, it provides reassurance that CDA-based straws won’t add to the persistent plastic pollution, while also demonstrating straw manufacturers’ commitment to offering a sustainable product that reduces risk to marine life.
