Recent reports claim that the contents of bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate may leach endocrine disruptors (PET). The majority of clear plastic containers used for condiments and beverages around the world are made primarily of PET, which was previously thought to not be a source of endocrine disruptors.
Objective I start by looking at evidence that PET bottles may leak phthalates that have been theorised to be endocrine disruptors. Discussion Both the PET bottle's contents and the temperature at which it is kept seem to affect the amount and speed of leaching. Water from PET containers may also have endocrine-disrupting effects due to endocrine disruptors other than phthalates, specifically antimony.
This research will assist in informing large-scale waste management operations by examining the potential mechanisms and structural components of important enzymes involved in microbial PET hydrolysis as well as the functionality of PET hydrolase enzymes in real-world settings. The role that microbial PET hydrolases may play in developing a potential circular PET economy will then be investigated. In order to clarify the next steps in addressing pollution caused by PET and other plastics, this review combines the state-of-the-art knowledge on enzymatic PET processing with suggested strategies for optimization and use.
With an annual production of more than 350 million metric tonnes, plastic use has become ingrained in contemporary society (Danso et al., 2019; PlasticsEurope, 2019). One of the most widely utilised plastics today is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a synthetic polymer derived from crude oil (Liu et al., 2019). PET production capacity surpassed 30 million tonnes annually in 2017. (PlasticsInsight, 2017). In 2016, about 485 billion PET bottles were produced, and by 2021, 583.3 billion plastic bottles are expected to be produced (Garside, 2019). Terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol are repeated units in this polymer (EG).
