Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Evaluation of Ultrasonic Pretreatment Effects on Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable Microplastics in Sewage Sludge

This study tested whether standard ultrasonic pretreatment used in sewage sludge processing could break down microplastics in the sludge, finding that both polyethylene and PVC microplastic particles showed no significant physical or chemical change after treatment. This means that standard sludge management processes do not reduce microplastic contamination before sludge is spread on agricultural land. Given that sewage sludge is widely applied to farmland as fertiliser, these findings highlight a significant gap in current wastewater treatment systems.

2025 Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 1 citations
Article Tier 2

An Application of Ultrasonic Waves in the Pretreatment of Biological Sludge in Urban Sewage and Proposing an Artificial Neural Network Predictive Model of Concentration

This paper is not about microplastics; it investigates how ultrasonic waves at different frequencies and durations improve hydrolysis, stabilization, and dewatering of activated sludge from urban wastewater treatment plants, using artificial neural networks to model outcomes.

2023 Sustainability 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of ultrasonication conditions on polyethylene microplastics sourced from landfills: A precursor study to establish guidelines for their extraction from environmental matrices

Researchers established optimal ultrasonication conditions for extracting polyethylene microplastics from landfill samples, finding that specific frequency and duration parameters significantly affect extraction efficiency and particle integrity.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 13 citations
Article Tier 2

A Novel Application of Ultrasound for Removal of Aqueous Microplastics

Researchers investigated bath-type ultrasonication as a novel method for removing microplastics from aqueous environments, reporting this as the first application of this technique for microplastic remediation. The ultrasound-based approach showed promise as an effective treatment strategy for addressing microplastic pollution in water systems.

2025 ACS ES&T Water
Article Tier 2

Integral analysis of hydrodynamic cavitation effects on waste activated sludge characteristics, potentially toxic metals, microorganisms and identification of microplastics

Researchers investigated hydrodynamic cavitation as a pretreatment for waste activated sludge, analyzing its effects on sludge characteristics, toxic metals, microorganisms, and identifying microplastics present in the sludge to improve anaerobic digestion efficiency.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 47 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Degradation through Thermal Hydrolysis in Sewage Sludge and Its Impact on the Anaerobic Process

Researchers found that thermal hydrolysis pretreatment of sewage sludge reduced microplastic concentrations from 206 particles/g to lower levels, with approximately 54% of microplastics initially in solid phase, and examined the implications for sludge management and microplastic fate.

2025 ACS ES&T Water
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in sewage sludge destined to anaerobic digestion: The potential role of thermal pretreatment

Researchers found that thermal pretreatment of sewage sludge at 120°C did not degrade conventional PET microplastics but did alter biodegradable microplastics, which also boosted methane production during anaerobic digestion, raising concerns about how different microplastic types behave in sludge treatment.

2022 Chemosphere 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Pretreatment methods for the isolation of microplastics from wastewater and sludge samples Part 2

This article reviews pretreatment methods for isolating microplastics from wastewater and sludge samples, examining digestion, density separation, and filtration approaches to optimize sample preparation for downstream identification and quantification.

2025 GAZ WODA I TECHNIKA SANITARNA
Article Tier 2

Saving Energy in Biological Wastewater Treatment by Using Extremely Low-Frequency Electric Field—Pilot-Scale Study

Not relevant to microplastics research; this paper describes a pilot study using low-frequency electric fields to improve biological wastewater treatment efficiency, with no connection to microplastic pollution.

2023 Sustainability 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of Using Sequential Electrocoagulation and Chemical Coagulation for Urea Removal from Synthetic and Domestic Wastewater

Not relevant to microplastics — this study evaluates electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation techniques for removing urea from wastewater to prevent eutrophication, with no focus on plastic pollution.

2023 Water Air & Soil Pollution 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Integral analysis of hydrodynamic cavitation effects on waste activated sludge characteristics, potentially toxic metals, microorganisms and identification of microplastics

Researchers tested hydrodynamic cavitation — a process using high-speed water flow to create pressure changes — as a pretreatment to improve sewage sludge digestion and measured its effects on microplastics in the sludge. The process reduced some sludge properties that limit biogas production, but its effect on microplastic fragmentation was also assessed. The study is relevant to understanding how wastewater treatment alters microplastic size and abundance in sludge spread on farmland.

2021 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastics extraction from wastewater treatment plants: Two-step digestion pre-treatment and application

Researchers developed an optimized two-step digestion method for extracting microplastics from wastewater treatment plant samples, achieving high recovery rates especially in organic-rich matrices like sludge, and applied it across multiple treatment stages.

2023 Water Research 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Ozonation and its Application in Wastewater Treatment

Not relevant to microplastics — this review covers ozonation and catalytic ozonation as wastewater disinfection and organic pollutant degradation technologies, with no focus on microplastic contamination.

2023 International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of chemical pretreatments on microplastic extraction in sewage sludge and their physicochemical characteristics

This study evaluated different chemical pretreatment methods for extracting microplastics from sewage sludge, finding that some treatments can alter the physical and chemical properties of plastic particles in ways that affect identification. Choosing the right extraction method is important for accurately characterizing microplastic contamination in biosolids.

2019 Water Research 166 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2021 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Thermal hydrolysis alleviates polyethylene microplastic-induced stress in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

Scientists found that pretreating waste sludge with heat before anaerobic digestion reduced the negative effects that polyethylene microplastics have on the process. The thermal treatment improved methane production and helped maintain healthy microbial communities even in the presence of microplastics. The study suggests that thermal hydrolysis could be a practical strategy for wastewater treatment plants dealing with microplastic-contaminated sludge.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Contemporary Drift in Emerging Micro(nano)plastics Removal and Upcycling Technologies from Municipal Wastewater Sludge: Strategic Innovations and Prospects

This review evaluates both conventional and advanced methods for removing microplastics from sewage sludge before it is applied to farmland as fertilizer. Current treatment processes like anaerobic digestion and composting reduce but do not eliminate microplastics, and some methods can actually fragment larger plastics into more numerous smaller pieces. The authors identify emerging technologies and upcycling strategies that could better address this pathway of microplastic contamination in agricultural soils.

2023 Current Pollution Reports 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimization and application of pretreatment method of microplastics detection in municipal solid waste landfills

Researchers compared different pretreatment digestion methods for detecting microplastics in municipal solid waste landfill samples, establishing which protocols best remove organic matter without degrading the plastic particles themselves.

2024 Waste Management 7 citations
Article Tier 2

A novel method for organic matter removal from samples containing microplastics

Researchers developed a novel organic matter removal method for wastewater treatment plant sludge samples containing microplastics, demonstrating that the approach is more time- and cost-effective than existing techniques while preserving microplastic integrity for accurate quantification and identification.

2021 Environmental Pollution 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimised reduction of total solids and organic matter of sewage sludge matrix for an improved extraction of microplastics

Researchers optimized chemical digestion protocols for extracting microplastics from sewage sludge, finding that maximizing reduction of total solids and organic carbon content significantly improved the reliability and efficiency of subsequent density-based microplastic separation.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Using Ultrasonic as a Disinfectant for Drinking Water Treatment Quality

Researchers evaluated ultrasonic treatment as a disinfection method for drinking water, testing its efficacy against bacterial pathogens and exploring its potential for degrading microplastic particles and pharmaceutical contaminants alongside its primary disinfection function.

2025
Article Tier 2

MicroplasticDegradation through Thermal Hydrolysisin Sewage Sludge and Its Impact on the Anaerobic Process

Researchers investigated the fate of microplastics in sewage sludge during thermal hydrolysis pretreatment and found that temperatures of 140-180°C significantly degraded microplastics while also affecting subsequent anaerobic biogas production from the treated sludge.

2025 Figshare