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Physicochemical and statistical analysis of water and microplastics in a drinking water reservoir in México
Summary
Researchers detected microplastics at multiple depths in the Valle de Bravo reservoir in Mexico, a key source of drinking water for Mexico City and Toluca, finding that contamination varied by season and water depth. The presence of microplastics in a major drinking water supply highlights the challenge of protecting treated tap water from plastic contamination.
The Valle de Bravo’s dam is a tourist place and part of the Cutzamala system, which supplies drinking water to the city of Toluca and some parts of Mexico City. Therefore, in this work, water and sediment sampling was carried out in the dry and rainy seasons at the surface, half-bottom (3 m) and bottom (6 m) levels of this dam. Some physicochemical parameters of water were analyzed, such as pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS) and oxidation–reduction potential (ORP). Possible microplastics were also detected and quantified through stereoscopic microscopy and characterizing them through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. Finally, the factor analysis of the physicochemical parameters, through the quantity and size of MPs, was carried out using multivariate statistics obtaining a total variance percentage of 77.8% for the dry season and 71.27% for the rainy season.