Framework to Quantify Uncertainty in Microplastic Concentrations in Wastewaters and Sludges Incorporating Analytical Recovery Information into Data Analysis

Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) serve a pivotal role in transferring microplastics (MPs) from wastewater to sludge streams, thereby exerting a significant influence on their release into the environment and establishing wastewater and biosolids as vectors for MP transport and delivery. Hence, an accurate understanding of the fate and transport of MPs in WWTPs is vital. Enumeration is commonly used to estimate concentrations of MPs in performance evaluations of treatment processes, and risk assessment also typically involves MP enumeration. However, achieving high accuracy in concentration estimates is challenging due to inherent uncertainty in the analytical workflow to collect and process samples and count MPs. Here, sources of random error in MP enumeration in wastewater and other matrices were investigated using a modeling approach that addresses the sources of error associated with each step of the analysis. In particular, losses are reflected in data analysis rather than merely being measured as a validation step for MP extraction methods. A model for addressing uncertainty in the enumeration of microorganisms in water was adapted to include key assumptions relevant to the enumeration of MPs in wastewater. Critically, analytical recovery, the capacity to successfully enumerate particles considering losses and counting error, may be variable among MPs due to differences in size, shape, and type (differential analytical recovery) in addition to random variability between samples (nonconstant analytical recovery). Accordingly, differential analytical recovery among the categories of MPs was added to the existing model. This model was illustratively applied to estimate MP concentrations from simulated data and quantify uncertainty in the resulting estimates. Increasing the number of replicates, counting categories of MPs separately, and accounting for both differential and nonconstant analytical recovery improved the accuracy of MP enumeration. This work contributes to developing guidelines for analytical procedures quantifying MPs in diverse types of samples and provides a framework for enhanced interpretation of enumeration data, thereby facilitating the collection of more accurate and reliable MP data in environmental studies.