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Impact of coastal wastewater treatment plants on microplastic pollution in surface seawater and ecological risk assessment
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Microplastics were sampled at nine stations along the southern coast of Istanbul's Bosphorus to assess the influence of nearby wastewater treatment plant discharges on surface seawater contamination. Treatment plant outfalls were confirmed as localized hotspots, with ecological risk highest near discharge points.
This study aims to understand the influence of wastewater treatment plant discharge on the microplastic status in the surface seawater of Istanbul. For this purpose, for the first time, the distribution, composition, and ecological risk of microplastics at nine sampling stations on the southern coast of Istanbul, Marmara, were investigated at monthly intervals over a one-year period. The results showed that the microplastic abundance ranged from 0 to over 1000 particles per liter. Fibers were the dominant form at all stations. Microplastics 249-100 μm were the dominant size, and transparency was the color most found at all stations. Polyethylene and ethylene-vinyl acetate were the major types of microplastics, accounting for 50% overall. The pollution load index revealed that over 70% of sampling stations were at hazard level I. However, the hazardous index was categorized as level III with a value of 662.3 due to the presence of the most hazardous polymer named polyurethane. Further investigations into the risk assessment of MP can reveal crucial knowledge for understanding the microplastic cycle.
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Three wastewater treatment plants discharging into Mersin Bay in the northeastern Mediterranean were found to release significant loads of microplastics into coastal waters, with fibers and fragments as the dominant forms. The study quantifies WWTPs as a measurable source of ongoing microplastic input to Mediterranean marine ecosystems.
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Researchers tracked microplastics through all compartments of a secondary wastewater treatment plant in Istanbul, finding that the plant removed about 86% of incoming microplastics but still discharged a substantial number to the Sea of Marmara, with fibers as the dominant form.
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Researchers found tiny plastic bits and larger plastic debris scattered across beaches on Istanbul's Black Sea coast, with pollution levels varying a lot depending on location and time of year. This matters because plastic on beaches doesn't stay put, it breaks down further, washes into the sea, and can end up in seafood we eat, making coastal plastic pollution a starting point for microplastics potentially reaching our dinner plates.
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