We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Papers
20 resultsShowing papers similar to Microplastics in anaerobic digestion: occurrence, impact, and mitigation strategies
ClearA review on mechanistic understanding of microplastic pollution on the performance of anaerobic digestion
This review examines how microplastic contamination affects anaerobic digestion, a process used to convert organic waste into biogas. Researchers found that microplastics can harm the microbial communities essential to this process through direct contact, leaching of toxic chemicals, and generating harmful reactive oxygen species. The findings raise concerns that microplastic pollution could reduce the efficiency of waste treatment systems and contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes.
Effect of Emerging Micropollutants on the Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge
This review examines how emerging pollutants, including microplastics, affect the anaerobic digestion process used to treat sewage sludge at wastewater plants. Microplastics can interfere with the bacteria that break down sludge and produce biogas, potentially reducing treatment efficiency. This is concerning because sewage sludge is often applied to farmland as fertilizer, and if microplastics disrupt the treatment process, the resulting biosolids may contain higher levels of both microplastics and other harmful substances.
Systematic study of microplastics on methane production in anaerobic digestion: Performance and microbial response
Microplastics are increasingly found in wastewater treatment systems, and this study systematically examined how different types, concentrations, and sizes of microplastics affect the anaerobic digestion process used to break down sewage sludge and generate biogas. Polyethylene microplastics were found to inhibit methane production, with finer particles and higher concentrations causing greater disruption to the microbial communities driving digestion. The findings matter because microplastics in sewage sludge can impair the treatment process and also end up spread on agricultural land when sludge is used as fertilizer.
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.
Microplastic Behavior in Sludge Pretreatment and Anaerobic Digestion: Impacts, Mechanistic Insights, and Mitigation Strategies
This review examines how microplastics behave during sludge pretreatment and anaerobic digestion, finding that microplastics frequently persist through these processes and can affect methane production and microbial communities when present at elevated concentrations, calling for mitigation strategies in wastewater treatment.
Unmasking microplastics in anaerobic digestion: Hidden threats, synergistic pollutants, and biodegradation Frontiers — A comprehensive hotspot review
Researchers reviewed how microplastics disrupt anaerobic digestion — the process used to convert organic waste into biogas — finding that microplastics suppress methane production, harm microbial communities, and carry along other pollutants like antibiotics and heavy metals into the system.
Revealing the Mechanisms of Polyethylene Microplastics Affecting Anaerobic Digestion of Waste Activated Sludge
Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics affect the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge, a common wastewater treatment process. They found that higher concentrations of microplastics significantly reduced methane production by disrupting microbial communities and enzyme activities essential for digestion. The study reveals that microplastic contamination in wastewater systems can undermine the efficiency of sludge treatment and biogas generation.
Effects of Micro(nano)plastics on Anaerobic Digestion and Their Influencing Mechanisms
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics from organic waste streams affect anaerobic digestion (AD) performance, covering impacts on methane production, microbial community structure, and enzyme activity. It identifies plastic polymer type and concentration as key variables determining whether MPs stimulate or inhibit digestion processes.
The Effect of Microplastics Exposure on Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste: A Review
This review examines how microplastics present in food waste affect the anaerobic digestion process used to convert organic waste into methane. Researchers found that the physical and chemical properties of microplastics, including type, size, and concentration, can impair methane production, disrupt microbial communities, and destabilize the digestion system. The study highlights mechanisms such as chemical leaching, enzyme interference, and oxidative stress through which microplastics hinder the waste-to-energy conversion process.
Overcoming micro/nanoplastics-induced inhibition in anaerobic digestion: Advances in remediation techniques
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics inhibit anaerobic digestion performance — reducing biogas yield and organic removal — and surveys remediation strategies including physical, chemical, and biological approaches to overcome their disruptive effects in waste treatment systems.
Occurrence, effect, and fate of residual microplastics in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge: A state-of-the-art review
This review assessed the occurrence, behavior, and fate of microplastics in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge, finding that MPs survive digestion largely intact but can affect methane production and microbial community composition, and that digestate land application remains a major pathway for releasing sludge-retained MPs to soil.
A review of mechanisms underlying the impacts of (nano)microplastics on anaerobic digestion
This review summarized mechanisms by which nano- and microplastics affect anaerobic digestion in wastewater treatment, covering inhibition and enhancement pathways, impacts on biogas production and methane yield, and effects on microbial community structure.
The occurrence and fate of microplastics in a mesophilic anaerobic digester receiving sewage sludge, grease, and fatty slurries
Researchers analyzed microplastic loads entering and leaving a mesophilic anaerobic digester at a wastewater treatment plant serving nearly 800,000 people. They found that the digester received approximately 7,326 kg of microplastics per year, with digested sludge containing about 30% less, though this reduction was within the variability of the measurements. The study provides important data on the fate of microplastics during sewage sludge treatment processes.
Fate and Impacts of Microplastics in Sludge Anaerobic Digestion: Effects on Methanogenic and Acidogenic Pathways
This review examined how microplastics in sewage sludge influence anaerobic digestion performance, covering effects on methane production, volatile fatty acid accumulation, and microbial community function. MPs inhibited methanogenesis at higher concentrations by altering microbial community structure and disrupting electron transfer pathways in the anaerobic digestion process.
From wastewater to sludge: The role of microplastics in shaping anaerobic digestion performance and antibiotic resistance gene dynamics
This review examines how microplastics in wastewater treatment plants affect the anaerobic digestion process used to break down sewage sludge, finding that certain plastic types can either boost or reduce biogas production depending on conditions. Importantly, microplastics increased the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes by up to 514%, raising serious concerns that wastewater treatment -- meant to protect public health -- may instead become a breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria when microplastics are present.
Deciphering the role of polystyrene microplastics in waste activated sludge anaerobic digestion: Changes of organics transformation, microbial community and metabolic pathway
Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics in sewage sludge affected the anaerobic digestion process used to treat waste, with low concentrations slightly boosting methane production but high concentrations reducing it by up to 11%. The microplastics disrupted key bacterial communities and enzyme activities needed for proper waste breakdown. This matters because wastewater treatment plants handle enormous volumes of microplastic-laden sludge, and impaired digestion could reduce treatment effectiveness and release more pollutants into the environment.
Effect of microplastic on anaerobic digestion of wasted activated sludge
This study investigated how varying doses of microplastics affect methane production during anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge, testing concentrations from 0 to 100,000 particles per gram. Higher microplastic doses progressively inhibited methane production, suggesting that high microplastic loads in wastewater treatment sludge can impair biogas recovery.
Microplastics in real wastewater treatment schemes: comparative assessment and relevant inhibition effects on anaerobic processes
Researchers investigated microplastic occurrence and removal in an Italian wastewater treatment plant, finding 3.6 MPs/L in influent dominated by polyester fibers, with conventional activated sludge achieving 86% removal, and demonstrating that concentrated sludge-associated microplastics can inhibit downstream anaerobic digestion.
Microplastics, antibiotics, and heavy metals in anaerobic digestion systems : a critical review of sources, impacts, and mitigation strategies
This critical review examined how microplastics, antibiotics, and heavy metals—as co-occurring contaminants—affect the performance of anaerobic digestion systems, finding that all three impair microbial processes, reduce biogas yields, and accumulate in digestates that are then applied to agricultural soils.
Comprehensive meta-analysis reveals the impact of non-biodegradable plastic pollution on methane production in anaerobic digestion
This meta-analysis found that microplastics and nanoplastics interfere with anaerobic digestion, a process used to treat organic waste and produce methane. Smaller nanoplastics had a greater impact, suggesting that plastic contamination in waste could reduce the efficiency of this important waste treatment and energy recovery method.