Microplastics in Sewage Sludge: Effects of Treatment

Mahon, Anne Marie; O’Connell, Bethesda; Healy, Mark G.; O’Connor, Ian; Officer, Rick; Nash, Róisín; Morrison, Liam

doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b04048

Cited by 809 publications

(315 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Microplastic fate in terrestrial environments and its link to freshwaters. Potential microplastic sources (nonexhaustive) are named and represented by the red‐colored objects while areas of microplastic concentration are highlighted with red‐filled spheres (industrial zones (Lechner & Ramler, ), atmosphere (Dris et al., ), sewage (Mahon et al., ; Mason et al., ), agricultural soils (Huerta Lwanga et al., ; Nizzetto, Futter, et al., ), freshwater beaches (Ballent et al., ), harbors and dams (Zhang et al., ), cities and roads (Horton, Svendsen, et al., ), and landfills (Rillig, )). The three upper circular panels represent zoom on selected effects on soil chemistry (Fuller & Gautam, ), microbiome (Mccormick et al., ) and the biophysical environment (Huerta Lwanga et al., ; Liebezeit & Liebezeit, ; Maass et al., ; Rillig, Ziersch, et al., ; Zhu et al., ) [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

Section: Microplastic Fate In Continental Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Between 80% and 90% of the incoming microplastics are retained in the sludge (Talvitie, Mikola, Setala, Heinonen, & Koistinen, ). Even after treatment, sludge might contain significant amounts of microplastics with surface properties varying according to plastic type and to the sewage treatment used (Mahon et al., ). The resulting biosolids are often applied as fertilizer to soils (Horton, Walton, et al., ; Nizzetto, Futter, et al., ) where microplastics may remain much longer than the intended nutrients.…”

Section: Microplastic Fate In Continental Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Microplastics as an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystems

Machado

Kloas

Zarfl

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

1,614

537

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Microplastics (plastics <5 mm, including nanoplastics which are <0.1 μm) originate from the fragmentation of large plastic litter or from direct environmental emission. Their potential impacts in terrestrial ecosystems remain largely unexplored despite numerous reported effects on marine organisms. Most plastics arriving in the oceans were produced, used, and often disposed on land. Hence, it is within terrestrial systems that microplastics might first interact with biota eliciting ecologically relevant impacts. This article introduces the pervasive microplastic contamination as a potential agent of global change in terrestrial systems, highlights the physical and chemical nature of the respective observed effects, and discusses the broad toxicity of nanoplastics derived from plastic breakdown. Making relevant links to the fate of microplastics in aquatic continental systems, we here present new insights into the mechanisms of impacts on terrestrial geochemistry, the biophysical environment, and ecotoxicology. Broad changes in continental environments are possible even in particle-rich habitats such as soils. Furthermore, there is a growing body of evidence indicating that microplastics interact with terrestrial organisms that mediate essential ecosystem services and functions, such as soil dwelling invertebrates, terrestrial fungi, and plant-pollinators. Therefore, research is needed to clarify the terrestrial fate and effects of microplastics. We suggest that due to the widespread presence, environmental persistence, and various interactions with continental biota, microplastic pollution might represent an emerging global change threat to terrestrial ecosystems.

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Section: Microplastic Fate In Continental Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Microplastic Fate In Continental Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics as an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystems

Machado

Kloas

Zarfl

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

1,614

537

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The redistribution of sewage sludge is particularly interesting, transporting plastics of urban origin across some rural landscapes (Horton, Svendsen et al, ; Zubris & Richards, ). The flux of plastics from this activity is potentially important considering that 80%–99% of plastics entering sewage treatment are stored in sludge (Carr, Liu, & Tesoro, ; Talvitie, Mikola, Setälä, Heinonen, & Koistinen, 2017), and a large amount of MPs (4,196–15,385 MP/kg dry mass) remain post‐treatment of biosolids (Mahon et al, ). Within Europe, Nizzetto, Futter et al () estimated that 125–180 t of microplastics per million inhabitants are added to agricultural soils as a result of sewage sludge application.…”

Section: Fluxes Of Plastics Through Hydrological Catchmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These contributions from treated effluent, however, are spatially variable in response to variable removal efficiencies across WwTWs (Siegfried, Koelmans, Besseling, & Kroeze, ). Microplastics removed during treatment are also not completely disconnected from entering the environment, with the retention of plastics in sludge (Mahon et al, ) and the potential for subsequent reapplication across catchments. Further sources of micro‐ and macroplastics identified within existing literature include, diffuse urban pollution, storm water drains (Horton, Walton, Spurgeon, Lahive, & Svendsen, ), combined sewage overflows and litter (Horton, Svendsen et al, ).…”

Section: Fluxes Of Plastics Through Hydrological Catchmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A catchment‐scale perspective of plastic pollution

Windsor

Durance

Horton

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

309

147

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Plastic pollution is distributed across the globe, but compared with marine environments, there is only rudimentary understanding of the distribution and effects of plastics in other ecosystems. Here, we review the transport and effects of plastics across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. We focus on hydrological catchments as well‐defined landscape units that provide an integrating scale at which plastic pollution can be investigated and managed. Diverse processes are responsible for the observed ubiquity of plastic pollution, but sources, fluxes and sinks in river catchments are poorly quantified. Early indications are that rivers are hotspots of plastic pollution, supporting some of the highest recorded concentrations. River systems are also likely pivotal conduits for plastic transport among the terrestrial, floodplain, riparian, benthic and transitional ecosystems with which they connect. Although ecological effects of micro‐ and nanoplastics might arise through a variety of physical and chemical mechanisms, consensus and understanding of their nature, severity and scale are restricted. Furthermore, while individual‐level effects are often graphically represented in public media, knowledge of the extent and severity of the impacts of plastic at population, community and ecosystem levels is limited. Given the potential social, ecological and economic consequences, we call for more comprehensive investigations of plastic pollution in ecosystems to guide effective management action and risk assessment. This is reliant on (a) expanding research to quantify sources, sinks, fluxes and fates of plastics in catchments and transitional waters both independently as a major transport routes to marine ecosystems, (b) improving environmentally relevant dose–response relationships for different organisms and effect pathways, (c) scaling up from studies on individual organisms to populations and ecosystems, where individual effects are shown to cause harm and; (d) improving biomonitoring through developing ecologically relevant metrics based on contemporary plastic research.

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“…Conversely, consumers may adequately dispose of waste products with the intention of items reaching recycling or landfill facilities, but adverse weather conditions can displace items into the environment. In the case of microplastics generated from consumers, through the use of cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads or washing synthetic clothing, small plastics can pass through wastewater treatment plants depending on the sophistication of the equipment, number of treatment stages and procedures used (Napper et al, 2015;Ziajahromi et al, 2016;Mahon et al, 2017).…”

Section: Plastic Production and Waste Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%