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Impacts of combined nanoplastic and cadmium pollution on nitrogen removal performance in constructed wetlands.
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Researchers tested how tiny plastic particles (nanoplastics) combined with cadmium, a toxic metal, affect constructed wetlands that treat water. Wetlands exposed to both pollutants, especially biodegradable plastic particles, removed less nitrogen and showed disrupted microbial activity, including changes to bacteria genes involved in nitrogen processing.
Nanoplastics (NPs) and cadmium (Cd) frequently co-occur in aquatic environments and can accumulate in constructed wetlands, potentially impairing nitrogen removal. Here, polystyrene (PS-NPs) and polylactic acid nanoplastics (PLA-NPs) were used to evaluate the impacts of NPs-Cd co-contamination on wetland performance and microbial ecology. Co-exposure, particularly with PLA-NPs, significantly decreased NH₄⁺-N, total nitrogen, and COD removal efficiencies. In Phase II, NH₄⁺-N removal efficiency in the PLA-1000 system decreased by 8.49 % compared with the control. PLA-NPs exerted stronger inhibition on plant photosynthetic pigments, while PS-NPs induced higher lipid peroxidation (MDA). The combined stress of PLA-NPs and Cd adversely affected Nitrospirota and suppressed key metabolic pathways, including oxidative phosphorylation and pyruvate metabolism, while enhancing bacterial secretion systems linked to pathogenicity. Functionally, PLA-NPs + Cd reduced the relative abundance of nitrite oxidoreductase-encoding genes, whereas both PS-NPs + Cd and PLA-NPs + Cd decreased the relative abundance of nitrate reductase-encoding genes. Overall, co-contamination promotes nitrogen accumulation and may alter nitrogen transformation pathways, highlighting the ecological threat of biodegradable nanoplastics in wetland systems.
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This study examined how aged polyethylene microplastics and cadmium interact in stormwater filtration systems — a water management infrastructure that rarely gets attention in microplastics research. The combined presence of both contaminants disrupted the microbial communities responsible for removing nitrogen from stormwater, affecting key nitrogen-cycling genes and treatment efficiency. The findings highlight that microplastic pollution can undermine the effectiveness of water treatment infrastructure in ways that go beyond the plastics themselves.
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Researchers compared how microbial communities in plant root zones versus non-root zones of constructed wetlands respond to nanoplastic contamination. They found that nanoplastics reduced beneficial nitrogen-processing bacteria near roots by nearly 18%, while non-root microbes showed greater adaptability, even using nanoplastics as a carbon source. The findings suggest that constructed wetlands, which are important for water treatment, may have their nitrogen-removal capabilities impaired by nanoplastic pollution.
Nanoplastics Disturb Nitrogen Removal in Constructed Wetlands: Responses of Microbes and Macrophytes
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The impact of nanosized plastics on nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands was investigated by examining microbial community responses and denitrification processes. Nanoplastics disturbed biological nitrogen removal in the wetland system, with microorganisms showing altered community structure and reduced denitrification efficiency.
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Researchers exposed wetland soil columns to polypropylene microplastics and found that MPs increased nitrous oxide emissions by 45%, raised exchangeable cadmium fractions by 28%, and decreased plant cadmium uptake by 56%, revealing that microplastics alter both greenhouse gas cycling and heavy metal bioavailability in urban wetlands.
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Scientists found that tiny plastic particles (microplastics like polystyrene and PVC) can seriously mess up the natural water treatment systems—called constructed wetlands—that are supposed to filter out harmful nitrogen waste from wastewater. In lab tests, these microplastics disrupted the helpful bacteria that break down nitrogen pollution, cutting the wetlands' cleaning efficiency by roughly half or more. This matters because if microplastics are weakening these treatment systems in the real world, wastewater could end up releasing more nitrogen pollution into rivers and lakes, potentially harming water qu
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