【TOMO雙語爆】塑膠剋星出現！小蟲吃光保麗龍   2015年10月05日16:39

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美國史丹佛大學和中國北京航空航天大學科學家研究發現，黃粉蟲（mealworm）可安全地生物分解各種塑膠物。

美國人每年丟棄約多達3,300萬噸的塑膠垃圾，但被回收的不到一成。

研究者發現，黃粉蟲可能是這個問題的救星，目前正在進行中的研究發現，黃粉蟲可以靠吃保麗龍或其他種類的聚苯乙烯物維生。

黃粉蟲腸內的細菌，可在消化過程中，將塑膠生物分解。

研究者發現，約100隻的黃粉蟲，每天可吃34到39毫克的聚苯乙烯，約等於一個小藥丸的重量。

這種蟲可將聚苯乙烯一半轉化為二氧化碳，並將剩餘的塑膠經生物分解後，排泄出來。

這種蟲，吃塑膠維生也很健康，而排泄物也可安全用作穀物的肥料。

史丹佛大學向媒體公開表示，這項研究非常重要，由於它推翻了一般認為「聚苯乙烯不能被生物分解」的想法。

英文原文：

Researchers led by scientists at Stanford University in U.S. and Beihang University in China have found that the mealworm can safely biodegrade various types of plastic.

Americans discard about 33 million tons of plastic every year, less than 10 percent of which gets recycled.

A solution to this problem may be the mealworm, which researchers in an ongoing study found can subsist on a diet of Styrofoam and other forms of polystyrene.

The bacteria in the mealworm’s gut is able to biodegrade the plastic as part of its digestive process.

Researchers found that 100 mealworms were able to eat between 34 and 39 milligrams of Styrofoam per day, which is about the weight of a small pill.

The worms converted about half of the Styrofoam into carbon dioxide, while they excreted the bulk of the remaining plastic as biodegraded fragments.

Worms on the plastic diet remained healthy, and their droppings appeared to be safe for use as soil for crops.

According to a Stanford University press release, the study is important because it contradicts the belief that Styrofoam is a non-biodegradable type of plastic.