Wastewater treatment plant effluents as source of cosmetic polyethylene microbeads to freshwater

Kalčíková, Gabriela; Alič, Branko; Skalar, Tina; Bundschuh, Mirco; Gotvajn, Andreja Žgajnar

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.08.131

Cited by 242 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…As important raw materials for the production of fabrics, plastic fibers of all colors are produced in large amounts [ 54 , 55 ]. Neither the environmental protection facilities of the factories nor wastewater treatment plants can thoroughly remove these fibers from the wastewater [ 56 ]. Much domestic sewage also goes into the water without any treatment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics in Sediment and Surface Water of West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake: Abundance, Source and Composition

Jiang

Yin

Wen

et al. 2018

IJERPH

147

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Microplastic pollution was investigated in sediment and surface water in West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake for the first time. The abundance of microplastics ranged from 616.67 to 2216.67 items/m3 and 716.67 to 2316.67 items/m3 in the lakeshore surface water of West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake, respectively. The highest levels of microplastic pollution were found in the lakes’ outlets. In the lake center sites of the West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake, the abundance of microplastics ranged from 433.33 to 1500 items/m3 and 366.67 to 1566.67 items/m3, respectively. Meanwhile, the study found that in lakeshore sediment of West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake, microplastic concentrations ranged from 320 to 480 items/m3 and 200–1150 items/m3. Polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were most common in the surface water and sediment samples, respectively. In addition, we suggest that the effects of polymer types in microplastics should be taken into account when considering abundance. This study can provide valuable points of reference to better understanding microplastic pollution in inland freshwater areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics in Sediment and Surface Water of West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake: Abundance, Source and Composition

Jiang

Yin

Wen

et al. 2018

IJERPH

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In order to estimate the level of microplastics entering into and leaving from STPs, it is required to have reliable and reproducible experimental methods to count microplastic particles in sewage influent and effluent. Many researchers tried to isolate and quantify microplastics from wastewater influent and/or effluent [ 27 , 29 , 31 - 33 , 35 - 38 , 42 - 48 ]. In those studies, occurrence of microplastics is usually expressed in the units of number of plastic particles per volume of water [ 31 - 33 , 35 - 38 , 43 - 48 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of microplastics in municipal sewage treatment plants: a review

Kang

Park

Kwon

et al. 2018

Environ Health Toxicol

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Municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs) are thought to be important point sources of microplastics in freshwater systems and many peer-reviewed articles have been published on this issue since mid-2010s. In this review, we summarize existing literature on the occurrence of microplastics in STPs and experimental methods used for isolation and identification of microplastics. The number concentrations of microplastics in STP influents were 15.1-640 L-1, whereas those in the STP effluents were highly variable and ranged from not detectable to 65 L-1. For most of cases, conventional STPs are removing microplastics very effectively. Fragments and fibers are dominant shapes of microplastics. Thermoplastics (polyethylene and polypropylene) and polyester are the predominant materials recovered. Although further research is needed, size distribution of microplastics in STPs is likely to follow a power law, implying that different studies using different size cutoffs may be compared after establishing a power law relationship.

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“…Evidently, all water treatment plants reduce the number of microplastics, when comparing influx to effluent (seeTable 1). Many investigations have concentrated on plastic microbeads[117] [147], which mostly derive from daily care products such as facial cleansers, body washes, including shampoos, and toothpastes. Early studies have found relatively low concentrations of microplastics in the treated water ranging from 0.0009[111] to 0.009 particles per L[55] for secondary treatment and 0.00002[111] to 1 particle per L[28] for tertiary treatment.…”

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confidence: 99%

Microplastics and Wastewater Treatment Plants—A Review

Habib¹,

Thiemann²,

Kendi³

2020

JWARP

123

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The emission of microplastics into nature poses a threat to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Their penetration of the food chain presents a danger to human health as well. Wastewater treatment plants can be seen as the last barrier between microplastics and the environment. This review focuses on the impact of waste treatment plants in retaining microplastics. Studies show that no wastewater treatment method leads to a complete retention of microplastics, and so wastewater treatment plants themselves are viewed as point sources for the discharge of microplastics into the aquatic environment. Problems associated with the utilization of microplastic loaded sewage sludge are also discussed in the review. Journal of Water Resource and Protection found as micropellets in cosmetic formulations and in facial cleaners and body scrubs (median size of 0.2 -0.4 mm), as microspherules in toothpastes (2 -5 μm in size), as well as in scrubbers used for air-blasting surfaces to remove paints and rust [25] and as drilling fluids in oil and gas exploration. A newer application is their use in drug delivery systems [26] [27]. In addition, synthetic polymer containing microparticles can also be released by the degradation of materials. The release of microfibers as a result of the washing of textiles has been widely reported as a source of microplastics [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]. These synthetic fibers, released by washing machines, are transported to waste water treatment plants [29] [33], where a considerable amount of them pass through the different treatment stages into the effluents due to their smaller size and enter the aquatic environment. It is estimated that around 35% of microplastics reaching the ocean are from synthetic textiles [34].Inventories of microplastics entering the environment have been attempted by organizations in different countries. A breakdown of the sources of microplastics in Sweden has been provided by Magnusson [35], which is given in detail below as an example of typical microplastic streams in developed countries. There is microplastic emission from plastic production, sandblasting material, cosmetic products, pharmaceutical drugs, textiles, road material and coatings. Using a spill factor of 0.04%, which was also used by Sundt et al. [26] for the estimation of pellet loss from the Norwegian plastic production plants, K. Magnusson et al. [35] have calculated a direct micropellet emission of 298 tons per year. In addition to that, there is loss due to the handling of plastic pellets which is set at between 0.0005% and 0.01%, adding another 12 -235 tons of microplastics emitted into the environment. These numbers were modeled on emission factors proposed by Lassen et al. [36] for the Danish production industry. However, no actual measured numbers of emissions of microplastics during production exist.The use of microplastics (e.g. of urea formaldehyde resins) in abrasive products for sandblasting has been deemed to be limited, and the use of these materials in Swedish shipyards is strictly regulated...

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Wastewater treatment plant effluents as source of cosmetic polyethylene microbeads to freshwater

Cited by 242 publications

References 29 publications

Microplastics in Sediment and Surface Water of West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake: Abundance, Source and Composition

Microplastics in Sediment and Surface Water of West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake: Abundance, Source and Composition

Occurrence of microplastics in municipal sewage treatment plants: a review

Microplastics and Wastewater Treatment Plants—A Review

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