Oxo-biodegradable full carbon backbone polymers - biodegradation behaviour of thermally oxidized polyethylene in an aqueous medium

Thermally oxidized LDPE-film samples and corresponding acetone extractable fractions were submitted to the effect of microorganism flora present in river water. The effective biodegradation was assessed by monitoring the amount of CO2 developed over time in a respirometer apparatus. Levels of biodegradation up to 12 and 48% for the degraded fragments and corresponding fractions extracted with boiling acetone were detected on a 100-day time frame.