The study involved monitoring both cellulose diacetate foam and solid cellulose diacetate in a tank of continuously flowing seawater from Martha’s Vineyard Sound, in a specially designed lab at WHOI. After 36 weeks, the team found that the cellulose diacetate foams lost 65-70% of their original mass. 

A side-by-side microscopic image of cellulose diacetate foam before and after 36 weeks in seawater. The team found that cellulose diacetate foams lost 65-70% of their original mass.

After years of testing, a new version of cellulose diacetate was found to be the fastest degrading bioplastic material tested in seawater—and it’s a promising replacement for other foam plastic materials, like Styrofoam, which can linger in the environment for many years.