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Differences of microplastics and nanoplastics in urban waters: Environmental behaviors, hazards, and removal
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This review compares microplastics and nanoplastics in urban water systems, finding that nanoplastics are harder to remove but potentially more dangerous because their tiny size allows them to penetrate human tissue barriers more easily. The authors evaluate emerging technologies like advanced filtration and chemical oxidation that could help remove these particles from drinking water and wastewater.
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) are ubiquitous in the aquatic environment and have caused widespread concerns globally due to their potential hazards to humans. Especially, NPs have smaller sizes and higher penetrability, and therefore can penetrate the human barrier more easily and may pose potentially higher risks than MPs. Currently, most reviews have overlooked the differences between MPs and NPs and conflated them in the discussions. This review compared the differences in physicochemical properties and environmental behaviors of MPs and NPs. Commonly used techniques for removing MPs and NPs currently employed by wastewater treatment plants and drinking water treatment plants were summarized, and their weaknesses were analyzed. We further comprehensively reviewed the latest technological advances (e.g., emerging coagulants, new filters, novel membrane materials, photocatalysis, Fenton, ozone, and persulfate oxidation) for the separation and degradation of MPs and NPs. Microplastics are more easily removed than NPs through separation processes, while NPs are more easily degraded than MPs through advanced oxidation processes. The operational parameters, efficiency, and potential governing mechanisms of various technologies as well as their advantages and disadvantages were also analyzed in detail. Appropriate technology should be selected based on environmental conditions and plastic size and type. Finally, current challenges and prospects in the detection, toxicity assessment, and removal of MPs and NPs were proposed. This review intends to clarify the differences between MPs and NPs and provide guidance for removing MPs and NPs from urban water systems.
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This review critically examines the differences between microplastics and nanoplastics in urban water systems. Researchers found that nanoplastics exhibit distinct physicochemical features compared to microplastics, including Brownian motion and higher surface area, leading to significantly different environmental fates, pollutant interactions, and ecological impacts that warrant separate analytical and management approaches.
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This review paper examines methods for removing tiny plastic particles, called nanoplastics, from water and wastewater. It finds that techniques like filtration and chemical treatment often just move the particles elsewhere rather than destroying them, while advanced chemical treatments can break them down under certain conditions. The authors say more testing in real water systems is needed to confirm which methods truly remove nanoplastics.
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This review covers the health threats of nano- and microplastics in water, which can cause tissue damage, reproductive problems, neurological disorders, and DNA damage in living organisms. Traditional water treatment methods fail to remove these tiny particles effectively, so the paper evaluates upgraded physical, chemical, and biological treatment approaches and hybrid techniques designed specifically to filter out small plastic debris.
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