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A Review of Microplastic Contamination in WastewaterDerived Sewage Sludge
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A review of wastewater treatment plant research reveals that while these facilities remove up to 99% of microplastics from effluent water, the captured particles concentrate in sewage sludge that is then spread on agricultural land as fertilizer, creating a critical terrestrial contamination pathway. The lack of standardized detection methods, long-term soil studies, and effective removal technologies means microplastic-laden sludge represents a largely unregulated route of environmental and dietary human exposure.
Microplastics, which account for 90% of plastic pollution, pose serious physical and toxicological threats to the environment and, by extension, human health.A significant amount of research has been conducted to assess microplastics in various types of water and wastewater treatment plants.However, there is limited knowledge about microplastics in the byproduct of wastewater treatment plants, sewage sludge.Wastewater treatment plants are moderately effective in reducing microplastics in effluent water.Paradoxically, the removed microplastics become concentrated in the sewage sludge.This is often discharged to the land, used as fertilizer for agriculture, or used for land refill, and poses a critical environmental problem.Sewage sludge discharge can be a significant point source of land contamination, thereby impacting terrestrial ecosystems, crop health, and human health, which warrants further study.Addressing microplastic pollution in sewage sludge is a complex challenge due to several factors, including a lack of standardized methods for detecting and monitoring microplastics, the need for long-term studies on the soil and the pathways of spread, the absence of current treatment technologies to eliminate microplastics, and a lack of public awareness and policy.This paper aims to present an overview of microplastics in sewage sludge.
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