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Spectroscopic analysis of microplastic contaminants in an urban wastewater treatment plant from Seoul, South Korea
Summary
Researchers performed systematic multi-spectroscopic analysis of microplastics at influent and effluent stages of a metropolitan wastewater treatment plant in Seoul, South Korea, using FTIR and microscopic methods to characterize MP type, size, and polymer composition. The study quantified treatment efficiency for MP removal and identified the dominant polymer types entering and leaving the WWTP, informing efforts to reduce microplastic discharge to urban waterways.
In this study, a systematic multi-spectroscopic analysis of microplastics (MPs) sampled from a metropolitan area of Seoul was undertaken to elevate understanding of the role of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in eliminating suspended contaminants including MPs before releasing the effluent water into the environment. We analyzed pollutants in influent and effluent samples from a WWTP in Seoul, South Korea. Spectroscopic and microscopic methods were used to analyze MPs. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in the wavenumber region between 4000 and 715 cm was employed to estimate the abundance of MPs in wastewater. Stereomicroscope images and Nile red staining were used to facilely identify MPs in both influents and effluents to compare the results with those of FT-IR data. Hyperspectral imaging could identify MPs in the influent sample with the reflection method at 400-900 nm. Our preliminary results indicate that the most observed MPs after the wastewater were filtered by a 45 μm stainless steel mesh filter were polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). The total number of the prevalent MPs in influent samples decreased significantly. Nanostructure particles could be found by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Our combined multi-spectroscopic study should be helpful to provide a guideline for the rapid spectroscopic analysis of freshwater in the Han River, Seoul, South Korea.
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