Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

The Occurrence and Removal of Microplastics from Stormwater Using Green Infrastructure

This review examines microplastic occurrence in urban stormwater and the potential of green infrastructure — particularly bioretention systems and constructed wetlands — to capture and remove plastic particles before they reach surface water bodies.

2025 Water 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics removal from stormwater runoff by bioretention cells: A review

This review examines the potential of bioretention cells, a type of green infrastructure, to remove microplastics from stormwater runoff. Researchers analyzed how these systems filter microplastics through soil media and vegetation and identified the key design parameters that affect removal efficiency. The study suggests that bioretention cells offer a promising nature-based solution for reducing microplastic loads entering waterways from urban areas.

2024 Journal of Environmental Sciences 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Analysis of Bioretention Capability in Removing Microplastic Particles from Stormwater

This study tested the ability of bioretention systems (vegetated stormwater gardens) to remove microplastic particles from stormwater, finding effective removal across multiple particle sizes and types. Bioretention infrastructure shows promise as a practical tool for preventing microplastics from stormwater runoff from reaching rivers and coastal waters.

2023 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Characterization in Stormwater: Pavement Source Evaluation and Treatment Efficiency of a Bioretention Cell

Researchers characterised microplastics in stormwater from pavement sources and evaluated the treatment efficiency of a bioretention cell, finding that pavement surfaces contribute substantially to microplastic loading and that bioretention can reduce particle concentrations.

2024 TSpace
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and Pathways of Microplastics in Bioretention Filters

Researchers found eleven microplastic polymer types in bioretention filter soil and stormwater samples in an urban setting, characterizing the occurrence and pathways of microplastics entering these green infrastructure systems from contaminated impervious surface runoff.

2025 Environmental Management
Article Tier 2

Small-Size Microplastics in Urban Stormwater Runoff are Efficiently Trapped in a Bioretention Cell

Researchers conducted a two-year field study showing that bioretention cells, a type of green stormwater infrastructure, effectively captured microplastics as small as 25 micrometers from urban runoff. The system retained over 80 percent of small microplastics, with fibers and fragments being the most commonly trapped types. The findings suggest that existing urban green infrastructure can serve double duty as a practical tool for reducing microplastic pollution in waterways.

2024 ACS ES&T Water 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Abundance, distribution, and composition of microplastics in the filter media of nine aged stormwater bioretention systems

Researchers analyzed microplastic abundance and distribution in the filter media of nine aged stormwater bioretention systems, finding that these green infrastructure installations accumulate significant microplastic loads, with particles distributed throughout the filter depth rather than concentrating at the surface.

2023 Chemosphere 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Improving stormwater quality for microplastic (25 – 106 µm) using a bioretention cell

This study evaluated how a bioretention cell (a vegetated stormwater filter system) removes small microplastic particles from stormwater runoff. Bioretention systems show promise as low-cost, nature-based approaches to capturing microplastics before they enter streams and drinking water supplies.

2023 HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)
Article Tier 2

Plastic pollution risks in bioretention systems: a case study

Researchers investigated plastic pollution in urban stormwater bioretention systems and found these green infrastructure features both accumulate microplastics from road runoff and risk leaching plastic particles into groundwater, raising concerns about their role as pollution pathways.

2022 Environmental Technology 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioretention cells remove microplastics in the 25 – 106 micron size fraction

This study found that bioretention cells (green infrastructure stormwater filters) effectively remove microplastics in the 25 to 106 micron size range from stormwater runoff. Bioretention cells represent a promising green infrastructure approach for intercepting microplastics before they reach streams and rivers.

2023 HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)
Article Tier 2

[Removal Mechanism of Microplastics in Bioretention Systems and the Influence of Their Enrichment on the Treatment of Pollutants in the System].

Researchers reviewed how bioretention systems, a low-impact stormwater management strategy, can remove microplastics from urban runoff through adsorption, filtration, and biodegradation. However, because microplastics resist degradation and have large surface areas, they tend to accumulate in these systems over time, forming composite pollution with other contaminants. The study found that microplastic accumulation altered soil properties, impeded plant growth, and reduced the system's ability to remove nutrients, particularly dissolved nitrogen.

2026 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Bioretention cells remove microplastics from urban stormwater

A 2-year field study characterized microplastics in urban stormwater runoff and measured how effectively a bioretention cell (a low-impact development infrastructure) removed them. The bioretention cell significantly reduced microplastic concentrations in stormwater, demonstrating its potential as a mitigation strategy for urban runoff-driven microplastic pollution.

2020 Water Research 199 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of different sustainable urban drainage systems in removing microplastics from urban runoff: A review

Researchers reviewed how nature-based drainage systems like wetlands, bioretention gardens, and permeable pavements can filter microplastics from urban stormwater runoff. These systems capture a significant portion of plastic particles, though smaller fibers remain the hardest to remove, and standardizing detection methods is still needed to compare results globally.

2023 Journal of Cleaner Production 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Field assessment of engineered bioretention as microplastics sink through site characterization and hydrologic modeling

A field study of bioretention cells — garden-like stormwater filters used in green infrastructure — found that their soils contained 7 to 10 times more microplastics than background soils, with polypropylene and polyethylene dominating. This confirms that bioretention systems are effective at capturing microplastics from urban runoff, but it also raises questions about what happens to the accumulated plastic over time and whether it eventually leaches back into groundwater.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Removal from Road Stormwater Runoff using Lab-scale Bioretention Cell

This lab-scale study evaluated bioretention cells — vegetated soil filtration systems — as a technology for removing microplastics from road stormwater runoff before it reaches waterways. The system demonstrated effective microplastic removal, suggesting bioretention is a promising nature-based solution for reducing microplastic pollution from urban roadways.

2023 Journal of Engineering and Technological Sciences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and concentration of 20–100 μm sized microplastic in highway runoff and its removal in a gross pollutant trap – Bioretention and sand filter stormwater treatment train

A stormwater gross pollutant trap followed by bioretention and sand filter treatment was found to remove 20 to 100 micrometer microplastics from highway runoff in addition to larger particles, with removal efficiency dependent on particle size and treatment train configuration.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 82 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Microplastics and nanoplastics in stormwater management engineered porous media systems: a systematic review of their sources, transport, retention, and removal characteristics

This systematic review summarizes how engineered stormwater systems like rain gardens and biofilters capture and retain microplastics and nanoplastics. The findings show these systems can effectively reduce plastic particles in stormwater runoff, which matters because untreated stormwater is a major pathway for microplastics to enter the rivers and lakes that supply our drinking water.

2025 Environmental Science Advances
Article Tier 2

Bioswales as potential sinks for tyre wear particle pollution

Researchers investigated the role of bioswale green infrastructure in capturing tyre wear particle microplastics from road runoff, presenting data from bioswales constructed in 2010 and quantifying their effectiveness as sinks for tyre-derived microplastic pollution.

2024
Article Tier 2

The interaction of microplastic and heavy metal in bioretention cell: Contributions of water-soil-plant system

Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics interact with heavy metals in bioretention cells designed to treat stormwater runoff. They found that microplastics bind to heavy metals and influence their movement through the water-soil-plant system, affecting overall pollutant removal efficiency. The study provides important insights into how the co-presence of microplastics and metals in urban runoff complicates green infrastructure performance.

2024 Environmental Pollution 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Innovative bioretention filters effectively remove microplastics from polluted stormwater

Researchers constructed a pilot rain garden facility with 13 bioretention filters incorporating innovative sorbent materials — waste-to-energy bottom ash, biochar, and Sphagnum peat — mixed with sandy loam and planted with salt-tolerant vegetation, then irrigated with stormwater from a highway over 48 months to evaluate microplastic removal efficiency by pyrolysis-GC/MS. They found the bioretention filters effectively removed diverse microplastic polymers from urban stormwater, with all 13 target polymers detected in inflow and variable removal efficiencies across sorbent treatments.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)