Climate Connections: Plastisphere - Colonies of potential plastic-eating bacteria & harmful microbes on our shores

Plastic consumption has increased exponentially in recent years.

When plastics enter the ocean, microorganisms attach to and colonise them, forming an ecological community known as the ‘Plastisphere’.

But we don’t really know much about these colonies. What we know, is that plastics can be silent killers of marine life.

Plastics also carry other chemical compounds called additives in addition to the polymer resin, and these materials can actually leach into the environment. 

To understand the plastic-microbes interaction, NTU researchers extracted DNA information of plastispheres gathered from 14 coastal locations in Singapore, and they found both potential plastic-eating bacteria and harmful microbes thriving on the samples.

On this episode of Climate Connections, we feature: 

- Jonas Koh (NTU doctoral student, Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering)

- Professor Shane Allen Snyder (Executive Director, Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute)

Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Voiced by: Audrey Siek

Photo credits: NTU

Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributors

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