Aerobic biodegradability of citrate ester plasticizers and plasticized PLA films in simulated soil and compost environments

Laboratory-scale bioreactors were used to assess the aerobic biodegradability of citrate ester plasticizers in simulated soil and compost environments. The plasticizers included triethyl (C2) and tri-n-butyl (C4) citrate and their acetylated counterparts (A2 and A4, respectively). The biodegradability (mineralization) of the citrate esters was essentially complete at low concentrations (i.e., 0.8 to 3.2 mg plasticizer g...