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Limitations of Current Remediation Technologies for Aquatic Microplastics and the Case for Integrated Treatment Systems
Summary
This review paper looks at the current methods for removing tiny plastic particles from our water—like filtering, chemical treatments, and using microbes to break them down—and finds that none of them work well enough on their own to fully clean up the mess. The takeaway is that tackling microplastic pollution in our water supply, which matters because these particles have been found in human blood and organs, will likely require combining multiple treatment steps rather than relying on a single fix.
The accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic environments represents a legacy pollution burden that source-reduction measures alone cannot address. This paper evaluates the operational envelopes and mechanical limitations of physical separation (coagulation-flocculation, deep-bed filtration, and membrane bioreactors), advanced oxidation processes (Fenton, photocatalysis, and ozonation), and biological degradation pathways. No single technology provides a complete solution across diverse particle distributions; this work outlines the structural case for staged, hybrid treatment trains to achieve genuine biospheric mineralization.