‘Plastic-eating’ microbes help marine debris sink: study

PERTH: Microscopic creatures could be helping reduce marine garbage on the ocean surface, not only by "eating" plastics but by causing tiny pieces to sink to the seafloor, Australian researchers said Thursday.

The plastic-dwellers appear to be biodegrading the millions of tonnes of debris floating on waters worldwide, according to oceanographers at the University of Western Australia.

They analysed more than 1,000 images of material drifting along Australia´s coast in a study published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

The study is the first to document the biological communities living on the tiny particles of debris known as microplastics, and recorded many new types of microbe and invertebrate for the first time.

"Plastic biodegradation seems to happen at sea," oceanographer Julia Reisser said.

"I am excited about this because the ´plastic-eating´ microbes could provide solutions for better waste disposal practices on land."

Scientists have warned that microplastics -- particles smaller than five millimetres (0.2 of an inch) -- are threatening to alter the open ocean´s natural environment.

The United Nations Environment Programme estimated in 2012 that around 13,000 pieces of microplastic litter were found in every square kilometre of sea, with the North Pacific most badly affected.

While there has been previous research on microbes eating plastic at landfills, Reisser said her research found early indications that their marine counterparts could be just as effective on ocean garbage.

"If you use terrestrial microbes, you need fresh water to grow them and the process can be very expensive," she told AFP. "But if you find marine microbes, they are growing in saltwater and that might be a cheaper way (to reduce landfills)."

Reisser said the research showed diatoms -- tiny algae that were the most commonly found microbe living on the microplastics -- were using the little pieces as a "boat" to move around on the surface of the ocean.

As more and more diatoms -- which are made of silica -- gathered on a plastic piece, they appeared to make it sink to the bottom of the ocean floor, she said.

The actions of the microbes could explain why the amount of plastic floating on the seas has not been expanding as fast as scientists expected, Reisser added.

But the researchers also found evidence of possible tiny bite marks on the microplastics, raising concerns that other small organisms could be consuming toxins found in the litter.

"It seems we have tiny animals grazing on these plastic inhabitants -- but we are not sure if this is good or bad," Reisser said.

"That´s a hazard that we are very worried about, but we need far more research to see how big this problem is." (AFP)

Sturridge shows worth as England sink Peru

LONDON: England will head to the Americas with optimism intact after overcoming Peru 3-0 in their final pre-World Cup friendly game on home soil at Wembley Stadium on Friday.

In the first of his side´s three warm-up matches, manager Roy Hodgson saw man-of-the-match Daniel Sturridge put England ahead with a sweet 20-yard strike midway through the first half.

Centre-backs Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka got on the scoresheet in the second period to complete a straightforward evening for England, who travel to Miami for a pre-tournament training camp on Sunday.

They will face Ecuador and Honduras there next week before opening their World Cup campaign against Group D rivals Italy in the Brazilian city of Manaus on June 14. "It was a wonderful send-off to the World Cup by a quite incredible crowd," Hodgson told ITV. "We had to be patient, but we were dominant throughout. It is the perfect end to a perfect two weeks. I am delighted that 85,000 fans came here to wish us well on our way. When you play against teams with 10 men behind the ball you have to be patient, but I had no doubt we would win."

Hodgson was also able to hand a debut to young Everton defender John Stones, while he will have drawn encouragement from the performance of Adam Lallana and a late cameo from the fit-again Jack Wilshere.

Defeat took Peru´s run of games without victory to seven, but new coach Pablo Bengoechea had selected an experimental squad shorn of big-name players such as Claudio Pizarro and Jefferson Farfan. "We were playing against a top side, who were saying goodbye to their fans before the World Cup," said Bengoechea. "They had more possession than us and we struggled to get it off them, but in the first half they didn´t hurt us."

Hodgson opted to select Danny Welbeck instead of in-form Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling, with the Manchester United man lining up on the left flank in a conventional 4-2-3-1 system.

It was the teams´ first meeting since 1962 and Peru threatened first, with Joe Hart leaping to field a deflected shot from Montpellier youngster Jean Reza, but England cranked into gear in the last 20 minutes of the first half.

Having wastefully lashed wide with his weaker right foot following a buccaneering run from Lallana, Sturridge made amends in the 32nd minute with an excellent strike that took his international goal tally to four.

After collecting a throw-in from Glen Johnson wide on the England right, he worked his way inside two defenders to the edge of the box before whipping a glorious left-foot shot into the top-left corner.

Cahill headed in from a Leighton Baines corner in the 65th minute to give England breathing space.

Five minutes later Jagielka stabbed home the third goal after visiting goalkeeper Raul Fernandez allowed another Baines corner to squirm from his grasp.

Sterling, Wilshere, Chris Smalling, James Milner, Ross Barkley and Stones all entered the fray in the latter stages, while the avoidance of injuries completed a satisfactory evening for Hodgson. (AFP)