Biodegradability prediction

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Biodegradability prediction is biologically inspired computing and attempts to predict biodegradability of anthropogenic materials in the environment. Demand for biodegradability prediction is expected to increase with governments stepping up environmental regulations (see, for instance, testing for bioaccumulation in the REACH proposal).[ citation needed ]

Human impact on the environment human impacts on environment

Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment includes changes to biophysical environments and ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans, including global warming, environmental degradation, mass extinction and biodiversity loss, ecological crisis, and ecological collapse. Modifying the environment to fit the needs of society is causing severe effects, which become worse as the problem of human overpopulation continues. Some human activities that cause damage to the environment on a global scale include human reproduction, overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution, and deforestation, to name but a few. Some of the problems, including global warming and biodiversity loss pose an existential risk to the human race, and overpopulation causes those problems.

Natural environment All living and non-living things occurring naturally, generally on Earth

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished as components:

Bioaccumulation is the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost by catabolism and excretion. Thus, the longer the biological half-life of a toxic substance, the greater the risk of chronic poisoning, even if environmental levels of the toxin are not very high. Bioaccumulation, for example in fish, can be predicted by models. Hypotheses for molecular size cutoff criteria for use as bioaccumulation potential indicators are not supported by data. Biotransformation can strongly modify bioaccumulation of chemicals in an organism.

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Biodegradation Decomposition by living organisms

Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi.

Biochemical oxygen demand Amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material

Biochemical Oxygen Demand is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The BOD value is most commonly expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C and is often used as a surrogate of the degree of organic pollution of water.

Machine learning branch of statistics and computer science, which studies algorithms and architectures that learn from observed facts

Machine learning (ML) is the scientific study of algorithms and statistical models that computer systems use to effectively perform a specific task without using explicit instructions, relying on patterns and inference instead. It is seen as a subset of artificial intelligence. Machine learning algorithms build a mathematical model of sample data, known as "training data", in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to perform the task. Machine learning algorithms are used in a wide variety of applications, such as email filtering, detection of network intruders, and computer vision, where it is infeasible to develop an algorithm of specific instructions for performing the task. Machine learning is closely related to computational statistics, which focuses on making predictions using computers. The study of mathematical optimization delivers methods, theory and application domains to the field of machine learning. Data mining is a field of study within machine learning, and focuses on exploratory data analysis through unsupervised learning. In its application across business problems, machine learning is also referred to as predictive analytics.

See also

Anaerobic digestion Processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen

Anaerobic digestion is a collection of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. Much of the fermentation used industrially to produce food and drink products, as well as home fermentation, uses anaerobic digestion.

Landfill gas monitoring is the process by which gases that are collected or released from landfills are electronically monitored. Landfill gas may be measured as it escapes the landfill or may be measured as it is collected and redirected to a power plant or flare.

The Petersen matrix is a comprehensive description of systems of biochemical reactions used to model reactors for pollution control as well as in environmental systems. It has got as many columns as the number of relevant involved components and as many rows as the number of involved processes. One further column is added to host the description of the kinetics of each transformation.

Related Research Articles

Functional group moiety that imparts a molecules characteristic chemical reactions; moiety that participates in similar chemical reactions in most molecules that contain it

In organic chemistry, functional groups are specific substituents or moieties within molecules that are responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of those molecules. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reaction(s) regardless of the size of the molecule it is a part of. This allows for systematic prediction of chemical reactions and behavior of chemical compounds and design of chemical syntheses. Furthermore, the reactivity of a functional group can be modified by other functional groups nearby. In organic synthesis, functional group interconversion is one of the basic types of transformations.

Bio-inspired computing, short for biologically inspired computing, is a field of study that loosely knits together subfields related to the topics of connectionism, social behaviour and emergence. It is often closely related to the field of artificial intelligence, as many of its pursuits can be linked to machine learning. It relies heavily on the fields of biology, computer science and mathematics. Briefly put, it is the use of computers to model the living phenomena, and simultaneously the study of life to improve the usage of computers. Biologically inspired computing is a major subset of natural computation.

Reductive dechlorination is degradation of chlorinated organic compounds by chemical reduction with release of inorganic chloride ions by reductive dehalogenases.

Articles related to waste management include:

Bioplastic plastics derived from renewable biomass sources

Bioplastics are plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, straw, woodchips, food waste, etc. Bioplastic can be made from agricultural by-products and also from used plastic bottles and other containers using microorganisms. Common plastics, such as fossil-fuel plastics are derived from petroleum or natural gas. Not all bioplastics are biodegradable nor biodegrade more readily than commodity fossil-fuel derived plastics. Bioplastics are usually derived from sugar derivatives, including starch, cellulose, and lactic acid. As of 2014, bioplastics represented approximately 0.2% of the global polymer market.

The structure–activity relationship (SAR) is the relationship between the chemical or 3D structure of a molecule and its biological activity. This idea was first presented by Crum-Brown and Fraser in 1865. The analysis of SAR enables the determination of the chemical group responsible for evoking a target biological effect in the organism. This allows modification of the effect or the potency of a bioactive compound by changing its chemical structure. Medicinal chemists use the techniques of chemical synthesis to insert new chemical groups into the biomedical compound and test the modifications for their biological effects.

Green waste, also known as "biological waste," is any organic waste that can be composted. It is most usually composed of refuse from gardens such as grass clippings or leaves, and domestic or industrial kitchen wastes. Green waste does not include things such dried leaves, pine straw, or hay. Such materials are rich in carbon and considered "brown wastes," while green wastes contain high in concentrations of nitrogen. Green waste can be used to increase the efficiency of many composting operations and can be added to soil to sustain local nutrient cycling.

Biodegradable plastic plastic that can be biodegraded

Biodegradable plastics are plastics that can be decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually bacteria.

Biotransformation is the chemical modification (or modifications) made by an organism on a chemical compound. If this modification ends in mineral compounds like CO2, NH4+, or H2O, the biotransformation is called mineralisation.

Microbial biodegradation is the use of bioremediation and biotransformation methods to harness the naturally occurring ability of microbial xenobiotic metabolism to degrade, transform or accumulate environmental pollutants, including hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heterocyclic compounds, pharmaceutical substances, radionuclides and metals.

In biology, mineralization refers to a process where an inorganic substance precipitates in an organic matrix. This may be due to normal biological processes that take place during the life of an organism such as the formation of bones, egg shells, teeth, coral, and other exoskeletons. This term may also refer to abnormal processes that result in kidney and gall stones.

Biodegradable polymer

Biodegradable polymers are a special class of polymer that breaks down after its intended purpose by bacterial decomposition process to result in natural byproducts such as gases (CO2, N2), water, biomass, and inorganic salts. These polymers are found both naturally and synthetically made, and largely consist of ester, amide, and ether functional groups. Their properties and breakdown mechanism are determined by their exact structure. These polymers are often synthesized by condensation reactions, ring opening polymerization, and metal catalysts. There are vast examples and applications of biodegradable polymers.

Many opportunities exist for the application of synthetic biodegradable polymers in the biomedical area particularly in the fields of tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery. Degradation is important in biomedicine for many reasons. Degradation of the polymeric implant means surgical intervention may not be required in order to remove the implant at the end of its functional life, eliminating the need for a second surgery. In tissue engineering, biodegradable polymers can be designed such to approximate tissues, providing a polymer scaffold that can withstand mechanical stresses, provide a suitable surface for cell attachment and growth, and degrade at a rate that allows the load to be transferred to the new tissue. In the field of controlled drug delivery, biodegradable polymers offer tremendous potential either as a drug delivery system alone or in conjunction to functioning as a medical device.

OXO-biodegradation is biodegradation defined by CEN in CEN/TR 1535–2006 as "degradation resulting from oxidative and cell-mediated phenomena, either simultaneously or successively." It is sometimes described as "OXO-degradable", but this describes only the first or oxidative phase of degradation and this description should not be used for material which degrades by the process of OXO-biodegradation defined by CEN. The correct description is "OXO-biodegradable".

Plastic material of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids

Plastic is material consisting of any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic compounds that are malleable and so can be molded into solid objects.

BioSphere Plastic

BioSphere Plastic is a manufacturer of biodegradable additives. The company states that their product enhances the biodegradation of synthetic polymers by addition of their technology. It has a capacity at or around 5,800 metric tons a year and has filed for patent protection over their additive worldwide.

Pesticide degradation is the process by which a pesticide is transformed into a benign substance that is environmentally compatible with the site to which it was applied. Globally, an estimated 1 to 2.5 million tons of active pesticide ingredients are used each year, mainly in agriculture. Forty percent are herbicides, followed by insecticides and fungicides. Since their initial development in the 1940s, multiple chemical pesticides with different uses and modes of action have been employed. Pesticides are applied over large areas in agriculture and urban settings. Pesticide use therefore represents an important source of diffuse chemical environmental inputs.

Biological oxidizer

A biological oxidizer is a device that uses micro-organisms to treat wastewater and the volatile organic compounds produced by commercial and industrial operations. Biological oxidation devices convert biodegradable organic compounds into carbon dioxide and water. This is a natural occurring process which differs from traditional chemical and thermal oxidizing agents and methods. Some of the more commonly used micro-organisms are heterotrophic bacteria, which play an important role in biological degradation processes. Generally, these micro-organisms are rod shaped and facultative. Biological oxidizers provide a stable environment which allows bacteria to naturally oxidize and stabilize a large number of organics in a more efficient manner. Some of the emissions that may be treated biologically include:

Biodegradable athletic footwear is athletic footwear that uses biodegradable materials with the ability to compost at the end-of-life phase. Such materials include natural biodegradable polymers, synthetic biodegradable polymers, and biodegradable blends. The use of biodegradable materials is a long-term solution to landfill pollution that can significantly help protect the natural environment by replacing the synthetic, non-biodegradable polymers found in athletic footwear.

References

  1. ↑ Artificial Intelligence & biodegradability paper James R. Baker, Dragan Gamberger, James R. Mihelcic and Aleksandar Sabljić (2004) "Evaluation of Artificial Intelligence Based Models for Chemical Biodegradability Prediction", Molecules , 9, 989-1004
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