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Detection Methods
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Long-Term Monitoring of Microplastics in a German Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant
Microplastics2024
7 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 45
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Anika Korzin,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Anika Korzin,
Katrin Schuhen
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Erika Myers,
Anika Korzin,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Michael Sturm,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Erika Myers,
Erika Myers,
Erika Myers,
Erika Myers,
Erika Myers,
Erika Myers,
Erika Myers,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Dennis Schober,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Erika Myers,
Katrin Schuhen
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Erika Myers,
Erika Myers,
Erika Myers,
Anika Korzin,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Anika Korzin,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Michael Sturm,
Dennis Schober,
Anika Korzin,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Michael Sturm,
Anika Korzin,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Michael Sturm,
Erika Myers,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Anika Korzin,
Erika Myers,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Anika Korzin,
Anika Korzin,
Dennis Schober,
Katrin Schuhen
Anika Korzin,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Erika Myers,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Katrin Schuhen
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Dennis Schober,
Katrin Schuhen
Dennis Schober,
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Katrin Schuhen
Summary
Researchers conducted long-term monitoring of microplastics in a German municipal wastewater treatment plant, tracking seasonal and annual changes in influent and effluent concentrations and assessing the plant's overall plastic retention efficiency.
Study Type
Environmental
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as important point sources for microplastics (MPs) in the environment; monitoring MP emissions in the WWTP effluent is therefore essential for contamination control. The aim of this study is to acquire a large number of samples (320) over a period of two years and three months to determine the temporal variations in microplastic contamination in the outlet of the municipal WWTP Landau-Mörlheim. The effluent of the third cleaning stage is sampled with a 10 µm filter cartridge, processed in the laboratory using a hydrogen peroxide treatment, and MPs are then detected by fluorescence staining. The results show high temporal variations in the microplastic concentrations in the effluent of the WWTP. This indicates that high numbers of samples are necessary to obtain a representative assessment of the microplastic emissions; single samples are not representative. The average microplastic concentration in the effluent was 27.8 ± 29.8 MP/L, ranging from 0.6 MP/L to 194.0 MP/L. This leads to a yearly emission of 1.5 × 1011 MP for the WWTP Landau-Mörlheim, corresponding to an emission of 2.8 × 106 MP/inhabitant and year. Statistically significant seasonal variations could not be observed, although there is a trend towards lower MP concentrations in summer. Further, no correlations with other wastewater or weather parameters could be found.