BS EN ISO 19679:2020

This standard BS EN ISO 19679:2020 Plastics. Determination of aerobic biodegradation of non-floating plastic materials in a seawater/sediment interface. Method by analysis of evolved carbon dioxide is classified in these ICS categories:

• 83.080.01 Plastics in general

This document specifies a test method to determine the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials when settled on marine sandy sediment at the interface between seawater and the seafloor, by measuring the evolved carbon dioxide (CO₂). This test method can also be applied to other solid materials.

This test method is a simulation under laboratory conditions of the habitat found in different seawater/sediment-areas in the sea, e.g. in a benthic zone where sunlight reaches the ocean floor (photic zone) that, in marine science, is called sublittoral zone

The determination of biodegradation of plastic materials and other solid materials buried in marine sediment is outside the scope of this document.

The conditions described in this document do not always correspond to the optimum conditions for the maximum degree of biodegradation to occur.