Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Identification of microplastics in conventional drinking water treatment plants in Tehran, Iran

Researchers identified microplastics in three conventional drinking water treatment plants in Tehran, Iran, finding that standard treatment processes do not fully eliminate particles down to 1 micron in size, raising concerns about microplastic exposure through tap water.

2021 Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification, Quantification, and Evaluation of Microplastics Removal Efficiency in a Water Treatment Plant (A Case Study in Iran)

Researchers investigated microplastic occurrence and removal efficiency across treatment stages of a drinking water treatment plant in Iran, finding an influent concentration of 1597.7 MPs/L with an overall removal efficiency of 83.7%, yet still discharging an estimated 2.25 x 10^11 MPs daily into the distribution system, with PP, PE, and PET as the dominant polymers.

2022 Air Soil and Water Research 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Spatial mapping and risk assessment of microplastic contamination in drinking water catchments from north of the Persian Gulf

Researchers mapped microplastic contamination across 11 drinking water treatment plants in Khuzestan Province, Iran, near the Persian Gulf. While treatment reduced overall microplastic levels, fibers made up 71% of particles remaining in treated water, and polyethylene was the dominant type found. The study shows that current water treatment processes are not fully removing microplastics from drinking water, meaning people in the region are consuming small amounts of plastic particles daily.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic occurrence after conventional and nanofiltration processes at drinking water treatment plants: Preliminary results

Researchers detected microplastics in source river water and finished drinking water at three treatment plants in the Paris region, finding that standard treatment steps including coagulation-flocculation and sand filtration reduced but did not eliminate MPs. Nanofiltration achieved higher removal rates, suggesting advanced filtration is needed for near-complete MP removal from drinking water.

2022 Frontiers in Water 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification of microplastics and their removal efficiency in drinking water treatment plants in tropical areas: a case study of the Dago Pakar drinking water treatment plant, Bandung, Indonesia

This case study tracked microplastics through different treatment stages at a drinking water plant in Bandung, Indonesia, finding that plastic levels were higher during the rainy season and that particle sizes between 300-1000 micrometers dominated. The treatment plant reduced microplastic counts, but the study assessed how effectively each treatment step performed across seasons and times of day. The findings contribute to understanding how well conventional water treatment removes microplastics in tropical developing-country settings, where infrastructure may differ from Western facilities.

2025 Water Science & Technology Water Supply 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Removal in Water Treatment System: A Study of Baghdad’s Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants

Researchers analyzed microplastic levels at inlets and outlets of two drinking water plants and two wastewater plants in Baghdad, Iraq, characterizing particles by color, shape, size, and composition to assess treatment efficiency and identify residual contamination in treated water.

2025 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science
Review Tier 2

Removal of microplastics and nanoplastics in water treatment processes: A systematic literature review

Researchers systematically reviewed 103 studies across 26 water treatment plants in 12 countries to assess how well various technologies remove microplastics and nanoplastics from drinking water, finding that while coagulation, filtration, and advanced treatments help, significant gaps remain. The review identifies that no single process achieves complete removal, leaving microplastics as a persistent contaminant in treated water supplies.

2024 Journal of Water Process Engineering 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence of microplastics in raw and treated drinking water

Researchers analyzed raw and treated water from three water treatment plants and found microplastics in all samples, though treatment reduced particle counts by roughly 70 to 80 percent. The vast majority of detected particles were smaller than 10 micrometers, a size range often missed by other studies. The findings highlight that while water treatment removes most microplastics, very small particles can still pass through conventional filtration systems.

2018 The Science of The Total Environment 1073 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating microplastics at two drinking water treatment plants within a river catchment

Researchers tracked microplastics through each treatment stage at two Czech drinking water treatment plants on the same river, finding that the downstream plant received far higher raw water concentrations (1,296 vs. 23 particles/L) and that current treatment reduced but did not eliminate microplastics from finished drinking water.

2023
Article Tier 2

Distribution and abundance of microplastics in urban and industrial wastewater treatment plants in Tabriz metropolis

Researchers assessed microplastic contamination in two urban and five industrial wastewater treatment plants in Tabriz, Iran, a city of 1.6 million people. Urban treatment plants removed less than 10% of microplastics, while industrial plants showed somewhat better removal rates. The study found that existing wastewater treatment infrastructure is largely ineffective at filtering out microplastics, meaning significant quantities are being released into surface waters.

2025 Scientific Reports 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of microplastics in the drinking water production

Researchers tracked the fate of microplastics through drinking water treatment processes, finding that conventional treatment steps like coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration removed the majority of microplastics but did not eliminate them entirely.

2022 Water Research 157 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and fate of microplastics at two different drinking water treatment plants within a river catchment

Researchers investigated the occurrence and removal of microplastics at two drinking water treatment plants located on the same river in the Czech Republic. The study found that microplastics were present in raw water at both facilities and that treatment processes reduced but did not fully eliminate microplastic contamination, with removal efficiency varying by treatment technology.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 240 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence, characterization, and removal efficiency of microplastics in point-of-use drinking water systems: A case study in Dogonbadan, Iran

Researchers sampled inlet and outlet water from point-of-use drinking water systems in Iran and found that rather than removing microplastics, these systems actually increased average concentrations from 11.66 to 20 MPs/L, with polycarbonate and polypropylene as dominant polymer types.

2025 Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
Article Tier 2

Mass Concentration and Removal Characteristics of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in a Drinking Water Treatment Plant

Researchers measured both microplastics and nanoplastics by mass throughout an entire drinking water treatment plant, finding that raw water contained about 9.6 micrograms per liter of plastic polymers. Treatment reduced this by roughly 92%, but nanoplastics and very small microplastics were harder to remove than larger particles. The study highlights the importance of measuring plastic contamination by mass, not just by particle count, for a more accurate picture of exposure through drinking water.

2024 ACS ES&T Water 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence, Fate, and Treatment of Micro/Nano Plastics in Drinking Water Sources

This review examines the occurrence, fate, and treatment of micro- and nanoplastics in drinking water sources, covering how these particles enter water supplies and what treatment technologies exist to remove them. The authors note significant gaps in both detection methods and removal efficiency.

2024 Water and waste water management
Article Tier 2

Microplastic removal across ten drinking water treatment facilities and distribution systems

Researchers characterized microplastic removal across ten drinking water treatment facilities and found that conventional municipal treatment achieved greater than 97.5% removal, primarily through granular media filtration or ultrafiltration. Untreated source waters contained between approximately 1,200 and 7,200 microplastic particles per liter, with polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyamide being the most common types. The findings provide valuable data on microplastic exposure through drinking water and the effectiveness of existing treatment processes.

2025 npj Clean Water 1 citations
Article Tier 2

An evaluation of microplastics fate in the wastewater treatment plants: frequency and removal of microplastics by microfiltration membrane

This study assessed microplastic removal efficiency at a wastewater treatment plant in Iran and tested microfiltration membrane performance, finding that the membrane significantly improved microplastic removal beyond conventional treatment steps.

2021 Water Practice & Technology 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Tracking microplastics contamination in drinking water in Zahedan, Iran: From source to consumption taps

Researchers tracked microplastic contamination through the entire drinking water system in Zahedan, Iran, from raw water sources to household taps. While water treatment plants removed 64-75% of microplastics, tap water actually contained more microplastics than the treated water, likely due to contamination from pipes and plumbing. Children were estimated to consume more microplastics per body weight than adults, highlighting concerns about drinking water as a source of microplastic exposure.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 71 citations
Article Tier 2

The abundance of microplastic pollution along the Jajroud river of Tehran: Estimating the water quality index and the ecological risk

Researchers measured microplastic abundance and water quality in the Jajroud River, a major drinking water source for Tehran, Iran, across multiple seasons. Microplastic concentrations were linked to proximity to urban and wastewater inputs, and the water quality index declined at sites with higher microplastic pollution.

2022 Ecological Indicators 65 citations
Article Tier 2

Do drinking water plants retain microplastics? An exploratory study using Raman micro-spectroscopy

Researchers quantified microplastic retention at a Danish groundwater-fed drinking water treatment plant using Raman spectroscopy, finding that the plant reduced but did not eliminate microplastic particles down to 1 micron in size, with some microplastics present in the treated drinking water output.

2023 Heliyon 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal efficiencies of microplastics of the three largest drinking water treatment plants in Bangladesh

Researchers evaluated the three largest drinking water treatment plants in Bangladesh and found that while conventional treatment removed a significant portion of microplastics, treated water still contained plastic particles. Removal efficiency varied depending on the treatment process used, with some plants performing better than others. This highlights that current water treatment infrastructure may not fully protect people from microplastic exposure through drinking water.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 30 citations
Article Tier 2

The abundance, removal efficiency, and characteristics of microplastics in three urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea

Microplastics were assessed in influents and effluents of three wastewater treatment plants on Iran's Caspian Sea southern coast across winter and spring seasons, with removal rates of 71–88% depending on season and treatment method. Fibres dominated MP morphology, and improved treatment efficiency was achieved in spring, likely due to temperature effects on biological processes.

2024 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Contamination and Removal Efficiency of Microplastics and Synthetic Fibres in a Conventional Drinking Water Treatment Plant

Researchers found that a conventional drinking water treatment plant in Geneva removed the majority of microplastics from raw water, with coagulation and sand filtration contributing most to removal, though some particles persisted through to finished drinking water.

2022 Frontiers in Water 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure to Nano- and Microplastic Contamination in Treated Water in Mahasarakham Province

This study measured nano- and microplastic contamination in treated drinking water in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand, assessing the extent to which water treatment effectively removes plastic particles. Both nano- and microplastics were detected in treated water, indicating incomplete removal by current treatment processes.

2024 Water Resources