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A comprehensive review on advanced wastewater treatment technologies for microplastic control
Summary
Tiny plastic particles called microplastics are ending up in our water supply, and this review paper looked at how well wastewater treatment plants remove them before water gets released back into the environment. The findings show that while current treatment methods (like filtering, chemical processes, and even plastic-eating bacteria) can remove a good chunk of microplastics, none work perfectly, and some can be costly, energy-intensive, or even break plastics into smaller pieces that are harder to catch. This matters because microplastics that slip through treatment can end up in rivers, soil, and eventually our food and drinking water, so better, cheaper removal technology is
Pollution from microplastics (MPs) in wastewater (WW) has become a significant environmental issue and an increasing public health threat. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) function as both sinks and generators of MPs, effectively eliminating a significant portion of these particles while concurrently enabling their discharge into the environment via treated effluents and sludge application. Present review analyses the origins and prevalence of MPs in WWTPs while critically assessing recent developments in treatment technology. This comprehensive review discusses several removal techniques utilised in WWTPs, including coagulation/flocculation sedimentation (CFS), photocatalytic method, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and membrane techniques. Microbial degradation has garnered significant attention among biological techniques, as several bacterial and fungal species exhibit the capacity to degrade MPs by enzymatic processes, resulting in partial or complete mineralisation into carbon dioxide, water and microbial biomass. Nonetheless, despite claimed efficacy, numerous procedures are hindered by intrinsic limitations, including elevated operating and energy consumption, intricate infrastructure demands, suboptimal removal efficiencies, and the potential for producing secondary MPs. This analysis highlights the pressing necessity of the development of sustainable, economical, and MPs-specific treatment technologies that may effectively be incorporated into current WW systems to more efficiently reduce MPs pollution.