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Fungi Take a Bite out of BPA

Bisphenol A. Also called BPA, it's used to make shatter-proof plastic known as polycarbonate, found in everything from water bottles to medical devices to the lining of food packaging. As much as 2.7 million tons of plastics are manufactured each year with BPA. But it's also an endocrine disruptor posing a threat to fetuses and young children. And it’s been linked to cancer and metabolic disorders leading to obesity.

Bisphenol A.也叫BPA,是用来制造一种叫聚碳酸酯的防震塑料的。聚碳酸酯无处不在,从矿泉水瓶、医疗器械到食品包装生产线都可以看到它的身影,我们每年要用BPA生产270万吨塑料。但它也会对胎儿及幼童的内分泌产生影响,还会导致癌症和致糖尿病的代谢障碍。

So how can plastics be properly disposed of to avoid releasing BPA into the environment? Some fungus may help. So say researchers publishing in the journal Biomacromolecules. [Trishul Artham and Mukesh Doble, EfIw]

如何处理塑料才能防止不释放BPA到环境中呢?有些真菌可以帮得上忙。《生物高分子化学》上的一篇研究就是这么说的。

The scientists selected three fungi that are already used for environmental cleanup. They wanted to optimize conditions for the fungi to break down polycarbonate, so first they treated the plastic with ultraviolet light and heat. Untreated polycarbonate served as a control.

科学家们选择了三种已用于清洁环境的真菌,他们想优化真菌分解聚碳酸酯的条件,首先对塑料进行紫外线处理和加热处理,并将未经处理的聚碳酸酯作为对照。

After 12 months, the untreated plastic hadn’t decomposed at all. But the fungi had munched through the treated plastic and used it all as an energy source. Even better, the BPA had been entirely broken down as well. Tests of the sample found no BPA residue. That’s good news in the effort to mop up a persistant pollutant.

一年后未经处理的塑料完全没有分解,而真菌吃处理后的塑料吃得津津有味,还把它作为能量来源,更妙的是BPA完全分解了——样本测试没有发现残余的BPA。这对要费力处理持续性污染物来说可是个不错的消息。

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