Webinar

Status of Current ASTM / ISO Standards, Specification and Research Studies in the Marine Environment

Part of the Biodegradation Studies and Experiments for Materials in the Marine Environment Series

Wednesday, July 19, 2023 11:00 AM-12:00 PM EDT
Online

Together with

Summary

The Marine Biodegradation Standard Test Method ASTM D6691 “Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials in the Marine Environment by a Defined Microbial Consortium or Natural Sea Water Inoculum” is currently under revision at the ASTM International and ASTM D7081 “The Standard Specification for Non-Floating Biodegradable Plastics in the Marine Environment”, withdrawn in 2014, is being reworked into a new standard specification “Specification for Non-Floating Biodegradable Products in the Aquatic Environment WK75797” and broadens the scope to include fresh and marine waters. ASTM D6691 optimizes conditions (temperature, surface area, nutrients) to accelerate the biodegradation test at 30°C, but new ISO test methods broaden this temperature to include more realistic temperatures encountered in the marine environment from 15°-25°C, and allow for the use of films in addition to powders for testing. This talk will provide a brief overview of existing ASTM and ISO/CEN marine degradation and biodegradation test methods and specifications and share experiences using open and closed respirometry systems followed during ISO Round Robin Marine Biodegradation Testing and subsequent follow-up experiments.

About the Speaker

Linda Amaral-Zettler, Ph.D.
Research Leader
NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

Prof. dr. Linda Amaral-Zettler is a Research Leader at the NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research in North Holland, holds the Chair in Marine Microbiology at the University of Amsterdam and is an Adjunct Professor at MBL in Woods Hole, MA. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program. She has been active in plastic marine debris research over the last 13 years and chairs ASTM D20.96.12 subsection on Natural Environment Degradation/Biodegradation. She studies the "Plastisphere" and applies next generation technologies to biodegradation standard testing methods.

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