Deciphering the role of fungus in degradation of polypropylene from hospital waste

Abstract

Health and environmental consequences are unavoidable when it comes to management of hospital waste (HW) disposables. In order to eradicate the HW, this study isolated a novel fungus SPF21 from a hospital dumping yard to degrade Polypropylene (PP). We measured the attributes of PP inoculated with fungus using mass loss, Fourier trans‐form infrared (FTIR), contact angle (CA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The weight of PP exposed to SPF21 was reduced by 25% in 90 days. The SEM images reveal that there are pores all over the sample surface; they alsocaused voids during the biodegradation of PP. FTIR analysis indicates that the spectra of treated mask pieces show the absence of peak at 1746 cm−1 and the appearance of a new peak at 1643 cm−1. A period of 90‐day exposure to the fungal isolate SPF21 reduced the CA of PP by 44.8% when compared to the nonexposed PP samples, suggesting that the surface of PP turned more hydrophilic after exposure. Moreover, our study on PP degradation by the fungus Ascotricha sinuosa SPF21 appears to be promising from the perspective of environmental, health, and economic hazards. Our results indicate that biodegradation greatly facilitates fungus deposition and changes PP film morphology and hydrophilicity.