Page 55 - Plastics News January 2020

teChnoLogy

Research show mealworms can safely consume toxic additive-

containing plastic

iny mealworms may hold part of the solution to our giant for packaging and insulation, that is costly to recycle
Tplastics problem. Not only are they able to consume because of its low density and bulkiness. It contained a
various forms of plastic, as previous Stanford research has flame retardant called hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD,
shown, they can eat polystyrene containing a common toxic that is commonly added to polystyrene. The additive is
chemical additive and still be safely used as protein-rich one of many used to improve plastics’ manufacturing
feedstock for other animals, according to a new Stanford properties or decrease flammability. In 2015 alone, nearly
study published in Environmental 25 million metric tons of these chemicals were added to
Science & Technology. The study is plastics, according to various studies. Mealworms in the
the first to look at where chemicals experiment excreted about half of the polystyrene they
in plastic end up after being consumed as tiny, partially degraded fragments and the
broken down in a natural system other half as carbon dioxide. With it, they excreted the
– a yellow mealworm’s gut, in HBCD – about 90 percent within 24 hours of consumption
this case. It serves as a proof of and essentially all of it after 48 hours. Mealworms fed a
concept for deriving value from steady diet of HBCD-laden polystyrene were as healthy as
plastic waste.“This is definitely those eating a normal diet. The researchers acknowledge
not what we expected to see,” that mealworm-excreted HBCD still poses a hazard, and
said study lead author Anja Malawi that other common plastic additives may have different
Brandon, a PhD candidate in civil and environmental fates within plastic-degrading mealworms. While hopeful
engineering at Stanford. “It’s amazing that mealworms for mealworm-derived solutions to the world’s plastic
can eat a chemical additive without it building up in waste crisis, they caution that lasting answers will only
their body over time.” Brandon, Wu and their colleagues come in the form of biodegradable plastic replacement
looked at polystyrene, a common plastic typically used materials and reduced reliance on single-use products.

55 Januar y 2020 Plastics News