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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Micro- and nanoplastics in granular sludge systems: mechanisms of disruption, retention, and microbial adaptation in wastewater treatment technologies
ClearMechanisms underlying the detrimental impact of micro(nano)plastics on the stability of aerobic granular sludge: Interactions between micro(nano)plastics and extracellular polymeric substances
Researchers found that both micro- and nanoplastics at realistic concentrations harmed the performance of aerobic granular sludge, a technology used for wastewater treatment, by reducing its ability to remove nitrogen. The plastic particles interacted with the sticky substances that hold the sludge granules together, weakening their structural integrity. The study reveals a specific mechanism by which plastic pollution can undermine wastewater treatment systems that communities rely on for clean water.
Effects of microplastics on granular sludge: A review
This review examined how microplastics affect granular sludge properties and wastewater treatment efficiency in biological treatment systems, with wastewater plants considered major sinks for microplastics. The review found that harmful effects on granular characteristics are closely associated with microplastic size and concentration, summarizing how MPs disrupt granule formation and settleability.
Response of aerobic granular sludge under polyethylene microplastics stress: Physicochemical properties, decontamination performance, and microbial community
Researchers investigated the impact of polyethylene microplastics on aerobic granular sludge used in wastewater treatment. The study found that microplastics significantly disrupted sludge structure, settling properties, and enzyme activities related to denitrification and phosphorus removal, with increased reactive oxygen species and cell membrane damage at higher concentrations.
Effects of microplastics on substance transformation, sludge characteristics, toxicological effect, and microbial communities in different biochemical sludge systems: A review
This review synthesizes evidence that microplastics impair the biological and physical processes in wastewater treatment sludge systems, inhibiting nutrient removal, disrupting microbial communities, and degrading sludge structure—with smaller particles and higher concentrations causing greater damage. Because sludge is widely applied to agricultural land, any microplastic-driven impairment of treatment efficiency also increases the risk of plastic particles and associated pollutants reaching soils and food crops.
Impact of Polyethylene Terephthalate Microplastics on Aerobic Granular Sludge Structure and EPS Composition in Wastewater Treatment
Researchers investigated how PET microplastics affect the structure and function of aerobic granular sludge used in wastewater treatment. Higher microplastic concentrations led to changes in granule size, altered the composition of extracellular polymeric substances, and shifted microbial community structure. The findings suggest that microplastic contamination in wastewater could compromise the stability and efficiency of biological treatment processes.
Impact of the concentration and type of microplastics on the treatment efficiency and biomass structure in aerobic granular sludge reactors
Researchers investigated how polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene microplastics at varying concentrations affect treatment efficiency, granule morphology, extracellular polymer production, microbial species composition, and metabolic activity in aerobic granular sludge reactors used for wastewater treatment. The study tested four hypotheses regarding MP effects on both the biological performance and structural integrity of aerobic granular sludge as a promising technology for MP-contaminated wastewater.
Effects of microplastics on the properties of different types of sewage sludge and strategies to overcome the inhibition: A review
This review examined how microplastics trapped in sewage sludge during wastewater treatment affect sludge properties, microbial communities, and treatment efficiency, while discussing strategies to overcome microplastic-induced inhibition of sludge processing.
Microplastics’ toxic effects and influencing factors on microorganisms in biological wastewater treatment units
This review examines how microplastics harm the biological treatment processes in sewage treatment plants by disrupting the microbial communities that break down waste. Microplastics alter the structure of these essential microbial communities, reduce their activity, and release toxic additives that cause oxidative stress and enzyme damage. Since treatment plants are a key barrier between pollutants and waterways, understanding how microplastics compromise their effectiveness is important for protecting downstream drinking water sources.
Effects of degradable and non-degradable microplastics on SPNEDPR-AGS system: Sludge characteristics, nutrient transformation, key enzyme, and microbial community
Researchers examined how degradable and non-degradable microplastics affect an aerobic granular sludge (AGS) wastewater treatment system, measuring impacts on granule formation, microbial community, and treatment performance. Degradable microplastics caused more pronounced disruption to the AGS system than conventional non-degradable plastics.
[Change in Granulation Potential and Microbial Enrichment Characteristics of Sludge Induced by Microplastics].
This study found that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics accelerate the formation of granular sludge in wastewater treatment plants by increasing sticky protein secretions, but continuous exposure ultimately degrades treatment performance and disrupts the microbial communities responsible for removing nitrogen. This matters because it suggests microplastics entering sewage systems could compromise the efficiency of the very facilities designed to filter them out.
Response of aerobic granular sludge under acute inhibition by polystyrene microplastics: Activity, aggregation performance, and microbial analysis
Researchers investigated how different concentrations of polystyrene microplastics affect the performance of aerobic granular sludge used in wastewater treatment. The study found that increasing microplastic concentrations inhibited nitrogen removal rates and disrupted the microbial community structure within the sludge. Evidence indicates that microplastic contamination in wastewater can compromise the effectiveness of biological treatment processes.
Impact of micro-nanoplastics on biochemical phases of anaerobic digestion in sewage sludge treatment: mechanistic insights and future prospects
Micro- and nanoplastics were found to disrupt the biochemical phases of anaerobic digestion, affecting the efficiency of the biological process used to treat organic waste. Understanding these impacts is important because anaerobic digestion is a common wastewater and sludge treatment method that may both receive and process microplastic-contaminated materials.
Microplastics in granular sequencing batch reactors: Effects on pollutant removal dynamics and the microbial community
Researchers investigated how polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate microplastics affect pollutant removal in granular sludge wastewater treatment reactors. They found that microplastic type and concentration influenced nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic compound removal rates, with PET particles showing a stronger tendency to accumulate within the biomass. The study indicates that microplastic contamination in wastewater treatment systems may compromise treatment efficiency and alter microbial community dynamics.
Biodegradable Microplastics in Municipal Wastewater and Sludge Treatment Processes: A Review on Occurrence, Fate, and Effects
Biodegradable plastics — marketed as a greener alternative to conventional plastics — can still fragment into microplastics inside wastewater treatment plants, where they undergo mechanical wear, additive leaching, and microbial degradation, with incompletely understood effects on the microbial communities that make treatment work. This review synthesises current knowledge on how biodegradable microplastics behave in wastewater and sludge systems, and argues that their risks in treatment infrastructure are underappreciated and require urgent dedicated research.
Revealing the influencing mechanisms of polystyrene microplastics (MPs) on the performance and stability of the algal-bacterial granular sludge
Researchers investigated how polystyrene microplastics affect algal-bacterial granular sludge used in wastewater treatment, finding that the sludge removed over 96% of incoming microplastics but that microplastics inhibited COD removal by 2.6 to 4.1% and total phosphorus removal by 2.9 to 5.8%. Structural stability was compromised through oxidative stress, altered protein composition, and reduced abundance of key functional bacteria.
Microbial and physicochemical responses of anaerobic hydrogen-producing granular sludge to polyethylene micro(nano)plastics
Researchers found that polyethylene micro- and nanoplastics disrupted anaerobic hydrogen-producing granular sludge in a concentration- and size-dependent manner, inhibiting microbial activity and altering community structure, with nanoplastics causing greater harm than larger microplastic particles.
Micro- and nanoplastics removal from water and solid matrices: Technologies, challenges, and future perspectives
Researchers reviewed a decade of research on micro- and nanoplastic removal technologies across water and solid matrices, finding that conventional water treatment achieves over 80% microplastic removal but transfers most particles to sludge rather than degrading them, while advanced oxidation processes show strong degradation potential under controlled but not yet real-world conditions.
Mechanism Involved in Polyvinyl Chloride Nanoplastics Induced Anaerobic Granular Sludge Disintegration: Microbial Interaction Energy, EPS Molecular Structure, and Metabolism Functions
Researchers investigated why polyvinyl chloride nanoplastics cause anaerobic granular sludge used in wastewater treatment to break apart. They found that the nanoplastics weakened microbial interactions, altered the structure of key biological compounds, and disrupted metabolic functions essential for sludge stability. The study matters because sludge disintegration reduces wastewater treatment efficiency, potentially allowing more pollutants to enter the environment.
The Effects of Microplastics on Floc Formation, Nutrient Removal and Settleability in Wastewater Treatment
Researchers investigated how microplastics affect floc formation, nutrient removal, and settleability in wastewater treatment systems, examining the mechanisms by which these ubiquitous anthropogenic pollutants entering via packaging, cosmetics, and other production sectors disrupt activated sludge processes.
Impact of phenolic-formaldehyde resin microplastics on anaerobic granular sludge: EPS interaction mechanisms and impacts on reactor performance
Researchers studied how microplastics made from phenolic-formaldehyde resin affect wastewater treatment systems that use anaerobic granular sludge. They found that smaller microplastic particles provided new surfaces for bacteria to grow on, initially boosting treatment performance, but over time the increased microbial activity weakened the structure of the sludge granules. The study reveals a trade-off where microplastics can temporarily improve wastewater processing while ultimately destabilizing the treatment system.