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Environmental Sources
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Assessment of road run-off and domestic wastewater contribution to microplastic pollution in a densely populated area (Flanders, Belgium)
Environmental Pollution2023
25 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.
Jana Asselman,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Ilias Semmouri,
Colin Janssen,
Ilias Semmouri,
Ilias Semmouri,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Colin Janssen,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Jana Asselman,
Ilias Semmouri,
Ilias Semmouri,
Maaike Vercauteren
Colin Janssen,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Colin Janssen,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Jana Asselman,
Ilias Semmouri,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Emmanuel Van Acker,
Emmanuel Van Acker,
Emmanuel Van Acker,
Emmanuel Van Acker,
Emmanuel Van Acker,
Emmy Pequeur,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Emmy Pequeur,
Emmy Pequeur,
Emmy Pequeur,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Maaike Vercauteren
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Maaike Vercauteren
Jana Asselman,
Maaike Vercauteren
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Ilias Semmouri,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Emmy Pequeur,
Emmy Pequeur,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Maaike Vercauteren
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Leen Van Esch,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Maaike Vercauteren
Maaike Vercauteren
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Inge Uljee,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Colin Janssen,
Jana Asselman,
Maaike Vercauteren
Summary
This study quantified the contributions of road runoff and domestic wastewater to microplastic pollution in an aquatic ecosystem, finding that these everyday sources together contribute substantially to total environmental microplastic loads.
Plastics are omnipresent in our daily life. Unfortunately, the produced plastics will partly end up in the environment including aquatic ecosystems. People often refer to littering or illegal waste dumping as sources of plastic emission to the environment. However, daily-life sources could also, unknowingly, contribute considerably to the total microplastic pollution in the ecosystem. Hence, there is an urgent need to study these potential sources. In this research, two common sources, i.e. domestic wastewater and road run-off from tire and road wear particles, were studied in detail to quantify the relative contribution of both domestic sources towards microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems in Flanders, Belgium. This assessment shows that every person (in studied area) emits on average 1145 microplastics (25-1000 μm) daily through domestic wastewater, resulting in a yearly discharge of 418,000 microplastic particles per person. The road run-off samples contained between 0.02 and 9.2 mg tire wear particles per litre per day, which corresponds to an emission of 10.8 mg tire wear particles per driven vehicle km. The gross and net emissions of both above mentioned microplastic sources were extrapolated to the whole Flanders region using an emission model. From the yearly gross microplastic pollution in the domestic wastewater, 623 kg (20%) will be discharged in the freshwater. The highest losses originated from the households that have a private drain or are not (yet) connected to an active wastewater treatment plant. In Flanders, the yearly net microplastic emission into the aquatic environment of tire wear particles is estimated to be 246 tonnes (38%), mainly from the direct run-off from the road surface. Based on the results, specific mitigation measures can be installed to reduce the emission of microplastics towards the freshwater ecosystem. Other sources should be quantified in a similar way for a more holistic strategy to counteract plastic pollution.