Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Characterization of microplastics and their interaction with antibiotics in wastewater

Researchers characterized microplastics in wastewater and investigated their interactions with antibiotics, examining how microplastic surfaces adsorb antibiotic compounds and the implications for antibiotic transport and dissemination in wastewater treatment systems.

2025 e_Buah
Article Tier 2

Pharmaceutically active micropollutants: origin, hazards and removal

This review summarizes existing research on pharmaceutical pollutants -- such as antibiotics, painkillers, and hormones -- found in water systems around the world. While focused on drug contamination, the paper notes that microplastics can act as carriers for these pharmaceutical chemicals, potentially concentrating them and increasing human exposure through drinking water. Conventional water treatment methods are often unable to fully remove these micropollutants.

2024 Frontiers in Microbiology 37 citations
Review Tier 2

Wastewater treatment plant effluent as a source of microplastics: review of the fate, chemical interactions and potential risks to aquatic organisms

This review examines wastewater treatment plant effluent as a source of microplastics entering aquatic environments. The study found that even though treatment plants remove most microplastics, the small amounts remaining in effluent may still contribute significantly to environmental contamination, and the chemical interactions between microplastics and other pollutants in wastewater raise additional ecological concerns.

2016 Water Science & Technology 314 citations
Article Tier 2

Unveiling the Interactions Between the Antibiotic Resistome and Microplastics Influenced by Trace Elements and PPCPs in Wastewater Treatment Plants

Researchers monitored wastewater treatment plants containing microplastics, trace elements, and pharmaceutical/personal care products, finding that these co-occurring pollutants interact to influence the survival and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes through the treatment process.

2025 Utah State Research and Scholarship (Utah State University)
Article Tier 2

Specific types of wastewater pollution in Ostrava and possibilities of decontamination through wastewater treatment plants

Researchers examined micropollutant contamination in wastewater in Ostrava, Czech Republic, finding that conventional wastewater treatment plants inadequately remove pharmaceutically active compounds and drug metabolites, posing risks to receiving waterways and highlighting the need for advanced treatment technologies.

2023 E3S Web of Conferences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in wastewater treatment plants: Sources, properties, removal efficiency, removal mechanisms, and interactions with pollutants

This review examines microplastic sources, properties, removal efficiency, and removal mechanisms across different wastewater treatment plant stages. Researchers found that while treatment plants remove a significant portion of microplastics, they cannot eliminate them entirely, resulting in the continued release of millions of particles into the environment daily through effluent and sludge.

2023 Water Science & Technology 128 citations
Article Tier 2

The Role of Wastewater Treatment Plants in Dissemination of Antibiotic Resistance: Source, Measurement, Removal and Risk Assessment

This review examines how wastewater treatment plants handle antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes, finding that current treatment processes do not fully remove them. Different levels of treatment show varying removal rates, and resistant bacteria can still be found in treated water released into the environment. While not directly about microplastics, the findings are relevant because microplastics in wastewater can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria into waterways.

2024 Antibiotics 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of wastewater treatment process on pollution characteristics and fate of microplastics

Researchers investigated microplastic abundance and removal efficiency across four wastewater treatment plants using different treatment technologies, finding influent concentrations between 539 and 1,290 particles per liter that were reduced substantially by primary and secondary treatment. Smaller microplastic particles proved hardest to remove and most likely to persist in final effluent.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of microplastics in wastewater treatment plants and their environmental dispersion with effluent and sludge

Researchers tracked microplastics through a wastewater treatment plant and found 12 different polymer types in effluents and sludge, with smaller particles (25–104 μm) most abundant and fibres displaying lower sizes than fragments. The study demonstrates that WWTPs do not fully remove microplastics and that processed sludge marketed as soil amendment carries plastic contamination.

2019 Environmental Pollution 589 citations
Article Tier 2

Research progress on the origin, fate, impacts and harm of microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants

This review explores how microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes interact in wastewater treatment plants, where they can survive treatment and enter the environment together. The concern for human health is that these contaminants can travel through the food chain, potentially increasing illness from antibiotic-resistant infections.

2024 Scientific Reports 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Chlorination of Antivirals in Wastewater: Effects of Microplastics and Ecotoxicity on Aquatic and Terrestrial Species

Researchers investigated how microplastics affect the chlorination of antiviral pharmaceuticals in secondarily treated wastewater and assessed ecotoxicity of the resulting products. Microplastics altered chlorination byproduct formation and in some cases increased overall ecotoxicity of treated wastewater, suggesting that microplastic co-occurrence complicates pharmaceutical disinfection outcomes.

2025 Processes
Article Tier 2

Sustainable treatment systems for removal of pharmaceutical residues and other priority persistent substances

This review evaluates sustainable wastewater treatment technologies for removing pharmaceutical residues and other micropollutants before treated water is discharged to the environment. Advanced treatment methods are also applicable to improving microplastic removal from wastewater.

2019 Water Science & Technology 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Study of occurrence, abundance, and characterization of microplastics in wastewater treatment plant in New Delhi, India

Researchers quantified microplastic prevalence in influent, treated effluent, and sludge from a wastewater treatment plant in New Delhi, finding that MPs are present throughout the treatment process and that the plant incompletely removes them, discharging MPs into receiving waters.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
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

Collaborative removal of microplastics, bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, and heavy metals in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant

Researchers tracked how a full-scale wastewater treatment plant in China simultaneously removes microplastics, bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, and heavy metals, finding that while the plant removed over 80% of incoming microplastics, those that remained in the effluent were associated with elevated levels of antibiotic resistance genes and heavy metals. Microplastics appeared to serve as carriers that concentrate and co-transport these co-contaminants through treatment processes. This raises important concerns: even "clean" treated wastewater discharged into rivers may carry microplastics loaded with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and toxic metals.

2025 Water Science & Technology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Meso- and microplastics accumulate and transfer hazardous contaminants from wastewater treatment plants to the environment

Researchers investigated how meso- and microplastics in wastewater treatment plants accumulate organic and inorganic pollutants, including metals, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides. They found that plastic particles act as carriers for these contaminants, redistributing them through both treated water discharge and sludge applied to land. The study suggests that wastewater treatment plants, while partially removing plastics, also serve as pathways for contaminated microplastics to reach the environment.

2026 Environmental Research
Article Tier 2

Transport and fate of microplastic particles in wastewater treatment plants

Researchers tracked microplastic particles through multiple stages of a wastewater treatment plant, finding that particles were concentrated in sludge but that a fraction passed through each treatment stage and remained in the final effluent.

2016 Water Research 1704 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors in the plastisphere in wastewater treatment plant effluent: Health risk quantification and driving mechanism interpretation

Researchers found that microplastics in treated wastewater carry significantly more disease-causing bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, and virulence factors on their surfaces compared to the surrounding water. This means microplastics released from wastewater treatment plants into rivers and lakes could spread antibiotic-resistant infections, posing a direct risk to communities that rely on these water sources.

2024 Water Research 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of microplastics, antibiotics and antibiotic resistant genes within WWTPs

This review examined the interactions between microplastics, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes within wastewater treatment plants, analyzing how MPs serve as carriers for antimicrobial compounds and facilitate the spread of resistance in microbial communities.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 145 citations
Article Tier 2

Which\nMicropollutants in Water Environments Deserve\nMore Attention Globally?

This review analyzed which organic micropollutants in water environments deserve the most global attention based on their toxicity, occurrence frequency, and persistence. Microplastics are among the contaminants considered, alongside pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals that routinely escape conventional water treatment and accumulate in aquatic ecosystems.

2021 Figshare