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Estimates for the degradation time of cellulose acetate filters vary widely, but they can range from several months to more than a decade, depending on environm
by myshpa 3y ago
Estimates for the degradation time of cellulose acetate filters vary widely, but they can range from several months to more than a decade, depending on environmental conditions.
It's important to note that even though cellulose acetate might break down over time, it doesn't truly biodegrade in the same way that organic materials like food waste do. Instead, it fragments into smaller pieces called microplastics, which can persist in the environment for much longer and have their own set of environmental and health concerns.
- philipkglass 3y agoThe end state of biodegradation is "mineralization" where complex molecules are fully broken down to simple ones like water and carbon dioxide. Cellulose acetate will mineralize as fully as food waste does, but it takes longer than food waste. See e.g. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/app.1993.070501009 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/app.1993.070... for a discussion of microbial cellulose acetate mineralization (full article accessible through sci-hub).