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BS EN ISO 14851:2019

$167.15

Determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of plastic materials in an aqueous medium. Method by measuring the oxygen demand in a closed respirometer

Published By Publication Date Number of Pages
BSI 2019 34
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This document specifies a method, by measuring the oxygen demand in a closed respirometer, for the determination of the degree of aerobic biodegradability of plastic materials, including those containing formulation additives. The test material is exposed in an aqueous medium under laboratory conditions to an inoculum from activated sludge.

If an unadapted activated sludge is used as the inoculum, the test simulates the biodegradation processes which occur in a natural aqueous environment; if a mixed or pre-exposed inoculum is used, the method is used to investigate the potential biodegradability of a test material.

The conditions used in this document do not necessarily correspond to the optimum conditions allowing maximum biodegradation to occur, but this document is designed to determine the potential biodegradability of plastic materials or give an indication of their biodegradability in natural environments.

The method enables the assessment of the biodegradability to be improved by calculating a carbon balance (optional, see Annex E).

The method applies to the following materials.

  • Natural and/or synthetic polymers, copolymers or mixtures thereof.

  • Plastic materials which contain additives such as plasticizers, colorants or other compounds.

  • Water-soluble polymers.

  • Materials which, under the test conditions, do not inhibit the microorganisms present in the inoculum. Inhibitory effects can be determined using an inhibition control or by another appropriate method (see, for example, ISO 8192[2]). If the test material is inhibitory to the inoculum, a lower test concentration, another inoculum or a pre-exposed inoculum can be used.

PDF Catalog

PDF Pages PDF Title
2 National foreword
4 European foreword
6 Foreword
8 Introduction
9 1 Scope
2 Normative references
3 Terms and definitions
11 4 Principle
5 Test environment
6 Reagents
12 6.1 Distilled or deionized water
6.2 Test medium
6.2.1 Standard test medium
6.2.2 Optimized test medium
14 6.3 Pyrophosphate solution
6.4 Carbon dioxide absorber
7 Apparatus
8 Procedure
8.1 Test material
15 8.2 Reference material
8.3 Preparation of the inoculum
16 8.4 Test
17 9 Calculation and expression of results
9.1 Calculation
18 9.2 Expression and interpretation of results
10 Validity of results
19 11 Test report
20 Annex A (informative) Theoretical oxygen demand (ThOD)
21 Annex B (informative) Correction of BOD values for interference by nitrification
23 Annex C (informative) Principle of a closed manometric respirometer
25 Annex D (informative) Two-phase closed-bottle version of the respirometric test
28 Annex E (informative) Example of the determination of a carbon balance
30 Annex F (informative) Example of a determination of the amount of water-insoluble polymer remaining at the end of a biodegradation test and the molecular mass of the polymer
31 Annex G (informative) Example of the determination of the CO2 absorbed in the absorbent
33 Bibliography
BS EN ISO 14851:2019
$167.15