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Microplastic Pollution in Two Urban Rivers and an Associated Water Treatment Plant in Bangladesh
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The first microplastic study in Bangladesh examined two urban rivers (Buriganga and Shitalakhya) and an associated drinking water treatment plant, finding an average of 11,639 microplastic particles per cubic meter in water samples. Over 90% of particles were under 0.5 mm, with microfilm the dominant form (71%), and PET, PP, PE, PVC, and polystyrene were the most common polymers identified by ATR-FTIR. Notably, microplastic concentrations in the treatment plant were not significantly different from source river concentrations, raising concerns about the efficacy of conventional water treatment in removing microplastics.
BACKGROUND AND AIM Microplastics in freshwater environments are less well understood than in marine environments. The present study is the first of its kind in Bangladesh which was aimed at providing the first description of the abundance and distribution of microplastics in two rivers, namely the Buriganga and Shitalakhya. The study also examined the abundance of microplastics in a drinking water plant, which receives water from these two rivers. METHODS Twelve (12) water samples were collected from two rivers and the water treatment plant. The samples were first treated with the wet peroxidation method and then characterized and quantified according to color, shape, and size using a light microscope and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Several representative microplastics were also isolated for polymer identification using the Attenuated Total Reflectance–Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR–FTIR) spectroscopy. RESULTS The average abundance of microplastic was found to be 11,639 particles/m3 in the collected water samples. Over 90% of them were found to be less than 0.5 mm. The most frequent types of microplastic were microfilm (70.94%), followed by microfibre (15.76%) and microfragment (2.95%) and the dominant color was transparent (68.47%). The common polymer types were polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene. Interestingly, there were no significant (p>0.05) differences between the river water and the water sampled from the inlet and outlet of the water treatment plant vis-à-vis microplastic abundance. CONCLUSIONS This study reveals the contamination levels and characteristics of microplastics in the Buriganga and Shitalakhya rivers. The study also provides insights into the microplastic pollution in water treatment plants in the country. Further research is needed to find ways to reduce the abundance in freshwater niches and to develop technologies dedicated to microplastic removal in the water treatment plant. KEYWORDS Microplastics, Freshwater, Buriganga river, Shitalakhya river, Water treatment plant
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