Plastics in municipal drinking water and wastewater treatment plant effluents: challenges and opportunities for South Africa—a review

Iroegbu, Austine Ofondu Chinomso; Sadiku, Rotimi; Ray, Suprakas Sinha; Hamam, Yskandar

doi:10.1007/s11356-020-08194-5

Cited by 42 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…Although much have and is being done in the areas of polymer-based systems for the production of potablewater, notwithstanding; a multitude of areas remain unexplored; which are necessary to meet both the persistent and emerging challenges in the augmentation and production of safe, clean, and reusable water. For example, micro-and nano-plastic pollution remain serious threats that need to be mitigated for sustainable, and safe drinking water [116]. Where it has been shown that the current industrial water treatment processes are ineffective in removing these plastic contaminants entirely [117][118][119].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer-Based Membranes and Composites for Safe, Potable, and Usable Water: A Survey of Recent Advances

2020

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In the past decades, the demand for potable and usable water has been on a continual increase, while its availability has been on an exponential decline. Studies have argued that, by 2050, only a small fraction of the world's population will have access to clean and safe water, thereby exposing a significant portion of the population to a serious water crisis. Large volumes of wastewater are generated yearly, both domestically and industrially, and the necessity to develop effective and efficient strategies and technologies to recover these wastewaters and turn them into safe and reusable waters is a momentous concern among scientists and policymakers. Across the globe, governments are developing approaches and strategies to mitigate both short-and long-term water challenges resulting from various anthropogenic activities that have contributed to the rising degradation of water quality, coupled with the attendant negative impact of natural disasters, increasing urbanization, among others. Notwithstanding, the advancements in nanotechnology have made it possible to engineer novel and innovative polymer-based materials and composites that possess desirable and even predictable properties for targeted applications, which has presented the opportunity for the development of cost-effective nanotechnologies and processes employed in water remediation, reclamation, purification, and treatment processes worldwide. Nevertheless, these innovative technologies and processes have also been shown to have their limitations and challenges in the enhancement of water quality. Herein we survey the current advancement of selected polymer-based membranes and composites and their intervention for the production of safe, potable, and usable water, as well as their limitations, challenges, recommendations, and future perspectives.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer-Based Membranes and Composites for Safe, Potable, and Usable Water: A Survey of Recent Advances

2020

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“…The findings of another recent study, which analyzed footwear materials based on bamboo fabrics and cotton fabrics, provided the following conclusions: bamboo fabrics are a suitable replacement for cotton materials in footwear fabrication, with bamboo outperforming cotton in several key parameters, namely hygiene and/or mechanical properties, such as breathability [124]. Compared to non-biodegradable fossilderived fibers (e.g., nylon, polyesters, polyethylene terephthalate [PET]), which have been shown to contribute substantially to microplastic pollution [108,125,126], it is safe to posit that natural fibers such as those derived from bamboo offer the scientific community a wealth of possibilities.…”

Section: Bamboo In Textilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bamboos: From Bioresource to Sustainable Materials and Chemicals

Iroegbu

Ray

2021

Sustainability

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Nature is a master engineer. From the bones of the tiniest bird to the sophisticated bioproduction of a spider’s web, the works of nature are an enigma to the scientific mind. In the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics, studying, understanding, and harnessing the intricacies of nature’s designs for the benefit of mankind is the bedrock of science and technology. One such exceptionally engineered natural material is the bamboo plant. This ancient vegetation has, over dozens of generations, reinvented itself as a legendary, resilient, ubiquitous, and impressive bioresource that is not just sustainable, but also ecologically and cheaply cultivatable, and invaluable for soil erosion control, while holding the enormous potential to be transmuted into various useful chemicals and materials. With the increasing concerns and obligations in rethinking the future of the environment, sequestration of carbon dioxide, reduction in timber usage, and preservation of already depleted non-renewable resources, it has become vital for environmentalists, governments, scientists, and other stakeholders to identify alternatives to fossil-based chemicals and their derivable materials that are sustainable without compromising efficiency. By coalescing engineering-, chemical-, and materials science-based approaches, including results from over 100 reports, we demonstrate that the bamboo plant presents enormous opportunities for sustainable chemicals and materials. In addition, we highlight the current challenges involving the optimization of bamboo-based technologies and provide recommendations for future studies.

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“…Gallego-Schmid and Tarpani 2019 Marine organisms Lin et al 2018a;Mearns et al 2018Metabolites Petrie et al 2015Acir and Guenther 2018;Koba et al 2018;Patel et al 2019Metabolomics Matich et al 2019Microplastics Löder and Gerdts 2015Oberbeckmann et al 2015;Thompson 2015;Carr et al 2016;Avio et al 2017;Juliano and Magrini 2017;Barboza et al 2018;Datta et al 2018;Lambert and Wagner 2018;Lin et al 2018a;Wagner and Lambert 2018;Zad et al 2018;da Costa et al 2019;Guo and Wang 2019;Mishra et al 2019;Ng et al 2019;Prata et al 2019;Stock et al 2019;Amato-Lourenço et al 2020;Guo et al 2020;Iroegbu et al 2020;Kumar et al 2020;Möller et al 2020;Tiwari et al 2020;Wong et al 2020;Xu et al 2020 (continued) N. Morin-Crini et al Wang et al 2016c;Petrie et al 2015;Peng et al 2018;Li et al 2019b;Moreau et al 2019;Noutsopoulos et al 2019;Sousa et al 2019;D...…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Special attention is paid to plastic pollution of the marine environment. Indeed, this issue is a growing environmental concern worldwide, as shown by the recent explosion of literature on their identification, quantification and behavior (e.g., Avio et al 2017;Juliano and Magrini 2017;Barboza et al 2018;Lin et al 2018b;da Costa et al 2019;Mishra et al 2019;Ng et al 2019;Prata et al 2019;Stock et al 2019;Guo et al 2020;Iroegbu et al 2020;Wong et al 2020). The first studies have been conducted in the marine environment, mainly about macroplastics, (e.g., UNEP 2009;Hidalgo-Ruz et al 2012), and started only some years ago in freshwater environments (e.g., Wagner and Lambert 2018).…”

Section: Fig 11 Classification Of Emerging Contaminants and Issues Of Concern In Water Compartmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging Contaminants: Analysis, Aquatic Compartments and Water Pollution

Morin‐Crini¹,

Lichtfouse²,

Liu³

et al. 2021

Emerging Contaminants Vol. 1

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Over the past two decades, the presence of so-called emerging contaminants in various environmental compartments around the world, such as water, sediments, soils and atmosphere, and in a wide variety of consumer products has become a major concern for society, public health authorities, industry (namely food industry and water sector) and the agricultural sector. Some of these substances are endocrine disruptors and others are proven carcinogens and mutagens. In particular,

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Plastics in municipal drinking water and wastewater treatment plant effluents: challenges and opportunities for South Africa—a review

Cited by 42 publications

References 99 publications

Polymer-Based Membranes and Composites for Safe, Potable, and Usable Water: A Survey of Recent Advances

Polymer-Based Membranes and Composites for Safe, Potable, and Usable Water: A Survey of Recent Advances

Bamboos: From Bioresource to Sustainable Materials and Chemicals

Emerging Contaminants: Analysis, Aquatic Compartments and Water Pollution

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