TABLE OF CONTENTS Johann Fritz
This chapter contains an overview of the direct environmental impact, of biodegradable polymers. The theme is complex because different types of ecosystems are involved and must be considered separately. Therefore it is the intention to keep all explanations short. In that sense the very basics of organic waste recovery, ecotoxicology and soil and sediment ecology are summarised in a few words, but references to a selection of specialised textbooks are given.
The structure of the following sections should allow the reader to become more familiar with the theme step by step. The sections are:
a very general overview about the need for ecotoxicity testing including theoretical derivations for potential environmental influences,
a short introduction to the science of ecotoxicology with a list of commonly used methods,
special requirements needed when testing polymers and environmental samples,
an overview about currently available research results, and
a summary and some impressions about further research needs.
When plastics are used for throw-away products (such as packaging for example) or for products with a limited lifetime (bird nets, plant foils, grass nails or sapling plant pots to name a few) they may end up sooner or later as waste or litter. Since all those conventional polymers have been optimised to be stable against microbial attacks and to withstand moisture, light and atmospheric oxygen, such waste and litter is almost inert to environmental attack.
Biodegradable materials on the other...
