Author, as appears in the article.: Dronjak L; Exposito N; Rovira J; Florencio K; Emiliano P; Corzo B; Schuhmacher M; Valero F; Sierra J
Department: Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques Enginyeria Química
URV's Author/s: Dronjak, Lara / Exposito Lorenzo, Nora / Rovira Solano, Joaquim / Schuhmacher Ansuategui, Marta
Keywords: Waste-water Sludge Removal ratios Plastic pollution Drinking water threat sludge removal ratios removal particles monitoring microplastics identification human health fibers exposure drinking water coagulation
Abstract: Microplastics (MPs) are emerging pollutants detected everywhere in the environment, with the potential to harm living organisms. The present study investigated the concentration, morphology, and composition of MPs, between 20 μm and 5 mm, in a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) located close to Barcelona (Catalonia, NE Spain). The sampling included different units of the DWTP, from influent to effluent as well as sludge line. Sampling strategy, filtration, allows sampling of large volumes of water avoiding sample contamination, and during 8 h in order to increase the representativeness of MPs collected. The pre-treatment of the samples consisted of advanced oxidation with Fenton's reagent and hydrogen peroxide, followed by density separation of the particles with zinc chloride solution. Visual identification was performed with an optical and stereoscopic microscope with final Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) confirmation. MPs were found in all DWTP samples, with concentrations from 4.23 ± 1.26 MPs/L to 0.075 ± 0.019 MPs/L in the influent and effluent of the plant, respectively. The overall removal efficiency of the plant was 98.3%. The most dominant morphology was fibers followed by fragments and films. Twenty-two different polymer types were identified and synthetic cellulose, polyester, polyamide, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyurethane, and polyacrylonitrile were the most common. Although MPs could be incorporated from the distribution network, MPs intake from drinking water from this DWTP was not an important route compared to fish and seafood ingestion.
Thematic Areas: Water science and technology Water resources Waste management and disposal Saúde coletiva Química Pollution Medicina ii Materiais Interdisciplinar Geociências General medicine Farmacia Environmental sciences Environmental engineering Engineering, environmental Engineering, civil Engenharias iv Engenharias iii Engenharias ii Engenharias i Ecological modeling Civil and structural engineering Ciências biológicas iii Ciências biológicas ii Ciências biológicas i Ciências ambientais Ciências agrárias i Biotecnología Biodiversidade Astronomia / física
licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Author's mail: joaquim.rovira@urv.cat marta.schuhmacher@urv.cat nora.exposito@urv.cat nora.exposito@urv.cat nora.exposito@urv.cat lara.dronjak@urv.cat
Author identifier: 0000-0003-4399-6138 0000-0003-4381-2490
Record's date: 2024-02-04
Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Link to the original source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135422011307?via%3Dihub
Licence document URL: http://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
Papper original source: Water Research. 225
APA: Dronjak L; Exposito N; Rovira J; Florencio K; Emiliano P; Corzo B; Schuhmacher M; Valero F; Sierra J (2022). Screening of microplastics in water and sludge lines of a drinking water treatment plant in Catalonia, Spain. Water Research, 225(), -. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119185
Article's DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119185
Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Journal publication year: 2022
Publication Type: Journal Publications
Repositori URV