Ill Wind by Kevin J. Anderson

An environmental disaster leads to global chaos in this science fiction thriller by the authors of Assemblers of Infinity.
It is the largest oil spill in history: a supertanker crashes into the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay. Desperate to avert environmental damage (as well as a PR disaster), the multinational oil company releases an untested designer oil-eating microbe to break up the spill.
What the company didn't realize is that their microbe propagates through the air.and it mutates to consumer anything made of polycarbons: oil, gasoline, synthetic fabrics, plastics of all kinds. And when every piece of plastic begins to dissolve, it's too late . . .
Praise for Ill Wind
"A high-action, best-seller-caliber disaster novel grounded in unsettlingly accurate science. . . . Using the standard disaster novel format of multiple characters and plot lines, Beason and Anderson maintain a suspenseful, breakneck pace that carries us to a thrilling finish." -Booklist
"A big, near-future disaster novel straddling the border between science fiction and technothriller, likely to appeal to fans of both." -Kirkus Reviews
"A real winner . . . [the authors'] grasp of the science, the technology, and the political scene is unique." -Dr. D. Allan Bromley, former assistant to the president for science and technology