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There are bacteria that will eat almost anything, but I have never heard it 
suggsted that they are abundant enough to cope with all the plastic waste in 
the sea. If there were a bacterium capable of doing this, it would already 
be hard at work in the landfills of the world. Plastic in the sea is less 
concentrated than in landfills.

Also, I have no idea of what these bacteria turn plastic into.

I suspect that the bacteria that PtP refers to will prove to raise more 
problems than they solve.

Bill Silvert


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pay_the_Piper" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 4:49 PM
Subject: Plastic-eating bacteria in the ocean?


> Last night's ReGenesis tv program dealt with a bacterium which was eating 
> through plastic wire coatings.
>
> Are there bacteria feeding on that great plastic mass in the Pacific and 
> forming a new ecosystem and food chain?
>
> PtP 

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