Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Water and Wastewater

This book provides comprehensive coverage of microplastics in water and wastewater systems, emphasizing that while marine environments have received most attention, freshwater systems and wastewater treatment plants are equally important sources and sinks of microplastic contamination.

2020 IWA Publishing eBooks 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating Approaches and Technologies for Microplastics in Wastewater Management

This chapter reviews approaches and technologies for managing microplastics in wastewater, covering sources, treatment methods, and environmental fate. The authors note that microplastics enter wastewater from domestic activities, industrial discharges, and stormwater runoff, with particle size distribution and wastewater composition affecting treatment outcomes. The study emphasizes the need for comprehensive strategies to address microplastic contamination before it reaches aquatic ecosystems.

2024 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Nano/microplastics in water and wastewater treatment processes – Origin, impact and potential solutions

This review examined the origin, fate, and impacts of nano- and microplastics in water and wastewater treatment processes, finding that small particle sizes and diverse polymer compositions make complete removal challenging across conventional and advanced treatment stages. The authors identify detection limitations and process instability as key barriers to effective water treatment for nanoplastics.

2019 Water Research 624 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Characteristics, Occurrence and Removal Technologies

This review summarizes how wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway for microplastics entering the environment, covering the types, sizes, and sources of microplastics found in wastewater. While treatment plants can remove many microplastics, significant amounts still escape into rivers and oceans through treated water and sludge. The authors evaluate various removal technologies and recommend advanced treatment methods to better prevent microplastics from reaching water supplies.

2024 Water 46 citations
Article Tier 2

The fate of microplastics in wastewater treatment plants: An overview of source and remediation technologies

This review examines how wastewater treatment plants serve as key pathways for microplastic entry into the environment, analyzing removal efficiencies across different treatment stages and identifying advanced technologies for improved microplastic remediation.

2022 Environmental Technology & Innovation 159 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Water and Wastewater

This book covers the topic of microplastics in water and wastewater, addressing their sources, occurrence, fate, treatment, and regulatory context across the human water cycle. It provides a comprehensive reference for researchers and practitioners working on monitoring and reducing microplastic contamination in drinking water and wastewater systems.

2019 IWA Publishing eBooks 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: Transport and removal at wastewater treatment plants

This book chapter reviews the transport and removal of microplastics at wastewater treatment plants, summarizing efficiency data across different treatment processes. Even high-performing plants release microplastics into water bodies, making treated effluent a significant ongoing source of environmental contamination.

2019 IWA Publishing eBooks 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating wastewater effluent as a source of microplastics in environmental samples

This book chapter reviews how microplastics enter freshwater systems and wastewater treatment plants, and how these plants serve as both a partial barrier and a pathway for microplastics reaching rivers and oceans. Understanding wastewater as a vector is crucial for developing interventions that prevent microplastics from reaching ecosystems.

2020 IWA Publishing eBooks 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in wastewater: State of the knowledge on sources, fate and solutions

This review synthesizes current knowledge on microplastics in wastewater — their sources, fate through treatment processes, and discharge into the environment — and identifies research priorities and potential solutions. The paper serves as a key reference for understanding how wastewater systems contribute to the global distribution of microplastic pollution.

2018 Marine Pollution Bulletin 381 citations
Article Tier 2

Paradigm shifts and current challenges in wastewater management.

This bibliometric review of global wastewater research identifies microplastics as an emerging contaminant of increasing concern in wastewater systems worldwide. The review highlights that microplastic removal from wastewater remains a major unsolved challenge and that treatment plants are currently significant pathways for microplastics entering the environment.

2020 Journal of hazardous materials
Article Tier 2

Method development for microplastic analysis in wastewater

This book chapter describes methods developed to detect and measure microplastics in wastewater samples, addressing the lack of standardized analytical protocols. Reliable detection methods are essential because wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway through which land-based microplastics enter aquatic environments.

2020 IWA Publishing eBooks 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating wastewater effluent as a source of microplastics in environmental samples

This book chapter evaluates wastewater effluent as a source of microplastics in environmental samples, reviewing evidence of microplastic presence in freshwater systems, wastewater treatment plants, and associated biota. Researchers found that wastewater treatment plants are a significant conduit for microplastics into freshwater and marine environments despite their partial removal capacity.

2019 IWA Publishing eBooks 14 citations
Article Tier 2

A multidimensional study of wastewater treatment

This review covers the full range of wastewater treatment approaches, from physical and chemical methods to biological and membrane-based technologies. The paper summarizes how different contaminant types — including microplastics — are handled by various treatment systems. It serves as a broad reference for understanding current wastewater management capabilities and limitations.

2022 International Journal of experimental research and review 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in wastewater treatment systems and receiving waters

This review covers how microplastics move through wastewater treatment plants and end up in receiving water bodies, noting that conventional treatment removes most but not all microplastics. The residual microplastics discharged into rivers and oceans represent a major ongoing input into aquatic ecosystems.

2019 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Pollution to Solution: Understanding and Addressing Microplastic Contamination in the Environment

This review synthesizes current knowledge on how microplastics and nanoplastics are distributed across freshwater and marine environments, how they interact with and are taken up by aquatic organisms, and what removal technologies show the most promise. It covers the full lifecycle from macroplastic fragmentation to nano-scale particles, and surveys physical, chemical, and biological treatment methods. The review provides a useful overview for researchers and environmental managers looking to understand the scope of the microplastic problem and identify where interventions are most needed.

2026 Environmental Quality Management
Review Tier 2

Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants: A literature review of sampling methods and results

This literature review summarizes sampling methods and results from studies on microplastics in wastewater treatment plants, comparing approaches and findings across multiple studies. The review is part of a broader book on microplastics in the human water cycle.

2019 IWA Publishing eBooks
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastics removal mechanisms in wastewater treatment plants: A review

This review examines how conventional wastewater treatment plants remove micro- and nanoplastics, and evaluates advanced technologies like membrane filtration and electrocoagulation that could improve removal rates. While existing treatment plants can capture most microplastics, they still release significant quantities into waterways through their enormous discharge volumes. The study highlights that biological treatment steps may also transform microplastics in potentially harmful ways that need further investigation.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 88 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances on microplastics pollution and removal from wastewater systems: A critical review

This review summarizes the latest research on microplastic detection, occurrence, and removal in wastewater treatment plants. While treatment plants can remove 57-99% of microplastics depending on the stage, significant amounts still escape into the environment through treated water and sludge. The findings highlight the need for advanced treatment methods to prevent microplastics from reaching waterways and ultimately human water supplies.

2023 Journal of Environmental Management 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Conventional and Advanced Treatment Technologies for Microplastics in Water Treatment Facilities

This review evaluated both conventional and advanced water treatment methods for removing microplastics from wastewater. Researchers found that while techniques like coagulation, filtration, and membrane bioreactors can remove most microplastics, treatment plants still release significant quantities due to the sheer volume of water processed, and microplastic-laden sludge applied to farmland creates another pathway for environmental contamination.

2024 Preprints.org 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Challenges and Treatment of Microplastics in Water

This review covers the challenges of detecting and removing microplastics from water, noting that their small size and diverse composition make treatment difficult. Most conventional water treatment processes are not designed to remove microplastics effectively.

2018 InTech eBooks 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: Transport and removal at wastewater treatment plants

This book chapter examines how microplastics are transported through wastewater treatment plants and how effectively different treatment stages remove them. Understanding removal rates is important because treatment plant effluent is a major pathway for microplastics to enter rivers and coastal waters.

2020 IWA Publishing eBooks
Article Tier 2

Microplastics

This review provides a comprehensive overview of microplastic pollution across global ecosystems, covering their sources from industrial, domestic, and agricultural activities. Researchers examined the challenges of removing microplastics from water and soil, noting that conventional treatment methods cannot fully eliminate these persistent particles. The study emphasizes that microplastics represent a pervasive environmental and potential health concern that requires coordinated global action.

2024 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent approaches and advanced wastewater treatment technologies for mitigating emerging microplastics contamination – A critical review

This review critically assessed advanced wastewater treatment technologies for removing microplastics, noting that conventional treatment plants act as both barriers and point sources for microplastic release into the environment. The study suggests that advanced treatment approaches such as membrane filtration and advanced oxidation processes show promise for improving microplastic removal efficiency from wastewater.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 243 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of microplastics from wastewater: available techniques and way forward

This review surveys the available techniques for removing microplastics from wastewater, including filtration, coagulation, biological treatment, and advanced methods like membrane bioreactors. Researchers found that while conventional treatment plants can remove a substantial fraction of microplastics, significant amounts still pass through to the environment. The study emphasizes the need for upgrading wastewater treatment systems to better capture these emerging contaminants.

2021 Water Science & Technology 100 citations