A group of chemicals managed to synthesize paracetamol from plastic waste thanks to a reaction that involved E. coli bacteria, according to a study published on Monday, although its large -scale application is still very uncertain, agencies reported.
This finding “demonstrates that it is possible Nature Chemistry which was made by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Paracetamol, which is prescribed against pain and fever, is one of the most common medications, and is produced from oil derivatives, most of the time by subcontractors in Asia, through low -cost techniques but that produce a lot of pollution.
The authors of the study had several stages to achieve the result, they first used components of a bottle used of PET plastic (Terephthalate polyethylene) to induce a chemical reaction in a strain of bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli).
At the end of this first phase, bacteria synthesized a molecule called “Paba.” Then, genetically modifying bacteria, scientists managed to transform that molecule into paracetamol.
Experts argue that this experiment opens the door to new techniques to recycle plastic waste, but its large -scale application is not simple.
There are still “several practical considerations” to be resolved to go beyond a simple “viability demonstration”, they write several researchers who did not participate in the study, in a text that also published in Nature Chemistry and disseminated by agencies such as AFP.
Experts pointed out that the initial reaction only produces a limited amount of PABA molecules, which “might not be sufficient for industrial applications.”
Experts also recognized that the experiment is “promising”, underlining interest in studying processes that mix biology with artificial chemical reactions.
The study raises skepticism in environmental organizations.
“For years, a quarter does not pass without a new ‘bacterium that eats plastic,” said Melissa Valliant, of the NGOs Beyond Plastic.
“These discoveries never reach a sufficient scale to deal with the huge problem that plastics contamination represents,” he said.
With agency information.
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