Abstract: Journal of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Abstract:
Plastic waste is ubiquitous in the environment and may undergo different degradation mechanisms, such as photooxidation, thermooxidation, and hydrolytic degradation. However, there is still a lack of understanding, especially for plastics used in real-world applications, of which environmental compartment they degrade faster, leading to accelerated production of microplastics when improperly disposed of on land or at sea. This study evaluates the degradation of the commonly used plastics, namely: High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), in two different environmental media (air and seawater). The Specified Area Under the Band (SAUB) method is used to calculate the carbonyl index (CI) to assess the extent of plastic degradation. This study will serve as a baseline for the fate of plastics ending up in marine ecosystems, providing valuable insights into the long-term impacts of plastic pollution on the environment.