TerraVerdae BioWorks recently announced the successful scale-up of their manufacturing process for biodegradable PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoate) based microspheres, designed to replace environmentally hazardous non-degradable synthetic microbeads.
PHA is manufactured from a non-GMO, non-toxic, plant-associated process that occurs naturally through bacterial fermentation of sugars and glucose to produce linear polyesters.
Monomers from this family can be combined to produce materials with a variety of different properties. This includes thermoplastic, elastomeric plastics and bioplastics with applications in the cosmetic and medical industry.
Traditionally, synthetic polyethylene and polypropylene microbeads have been used as exfoliating agents in exfoliating products like soaps or body scrubs and personal care products like toothpaste.
However, the tiny size of microbeads, usually between 10µm to 1000µm (1mm) allows them to pass through water treatment filtration systems after being flushed down drains found at home, finding their way into the water supply.
Polluting both freshwater and marine water systems, health concerns are rising for both wildlife and humans. These microbeads can be ingested by marine life and work their way up the food chain to us. These ingested plastics can carry toxins and chemicals which may cause disease.
Environmentalist groups like 5Gyres have already been campaigning against the use of microbeads for quite some time.
Successfully moving from laboratory pilot to 10,000+ liter production capacity, TerraVerdae aims to make commercial-scale production a feasible economic option. The company hopes to eventually replace polyethylene microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products with a biodegradable and non-polluting alternative.
Though TerraVerdae’s current production focuses on the manufacture of microbeads for cosmetic products, the biodegradability of PHA’s also show promise in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Potential uses include producing fixation and orthopaedic materials such as sutures and fasteners, rivets and screws or bone plates and other related tissue engineering applications.
For more information on TerraVerdae BioWorks visit their website here. To learn more about the application of polyhydroxyalkanoates as tissue engineering materials click here.