Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTIP) are a potential source of microplastics [1,2]. Several types of microplastics, namely microbeads, fibres and fragments, were analysed in two WWTP effluent serving different Portuguese communities. A bigger station treating mixed domestic and industrial wastewater averaging 18000 m day and a smaller station with treating mostly domestic wastewater averaging 7250 m day. A total of 6065 microplastics were observed in 5,5 litres of wastewater sampled. 90% of the microplastics analysed were fragments and 88% were collected from treated effluent (1687 items in average per litre). Fibres presented a higher percentage in the affluent (88%), comparing to treated effluent (12%). Regarding sizes, microplastics with less than 0, 5 mm were the most representative in both WWTP. Fibres with 1 to 2 mm were more common. This study intends to contribute with a standardized methodology to analyse microplastics in wastewater, from sampling to identification, measuring and handling processes in the laboratory.
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Gouveia, R., Antunes, J., Sobral, P., Amaral, L. (2018). Microplastics from Wastewater Treatment Plants—Preliminary Data. In: Cocca, M., Di Pace, E., Errico, M., Gentile, G., Montarsolo, A., Mossotti, R. (eds) Proceedings of the International Conference on Microplastic Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. Springer Water. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71279-6_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71279-6_8
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