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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Exploring the potential impacts of microplastics on greenhouse gas emissions in wastewater treatment
ClearA review of microplastics stress on nitrogen conversion and nitrous oxide emissions from biological wastewater treatment: Efficiency, mechanism and prospects
This review analyzes how microplastics affect nitrogen conversion processes and nitrous oxide emissions during biological wastewater treatment. Researchers found that microplastics can disrupt key nitrogen-cycling steps including nitrification and denitrification, potentially increasing emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. The study highlights the dual environmental concern of microplastics interfering with both water treatment efficiency and climate-relevant gas emissions.
The impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on biological nitrogen removal processes: Exacerbating the greenhouse effect
This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics accumulate in wastewater treatment plants and interfere with the biological processes that remove nitrogen from water. The disruption leads to increased emissions of nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas, making the problem both an environmental health concern and a climate issue. The findings suggest that microplastic contamination in wastewater is undermining treatment effectiveness while simultaneously contributing to global warming.
Insights into N2O turnovers under polyethylene terephthalate microplastics stress in mainstream biological nitrogen removal process
Long-term exposure of biological nitrogen removal (BNR) wastewater systems to polyethylene terephthalate microplastics at concentrations up to 500 micrograms per liter altered nitrous oxide (N2O) production and reduction during denitrification over 100-plus days of treatment. The findings suggest MPs in municipal wastewater could inadvertently increase greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants.
The effect and mechanism of microplastics to the N2O emission in underground and aboveground wastewater treatment plants
This study compared microplastic levels and their effects on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions — a potent greenhouse gas — in underground and aboveground wastewater treatment plants in China. Underground plants had higher incoming microplastic concentrations but achieved slightly better removal rates, and microplastics were found to influence the microbial communities responsible for nitrogen processing in ways that affected N2O production. The results suggest that microplastic contamination in wastewater treatment systems has consequences not only for water quality but potentially for greenhouse gas emissions from these facilities.
Estuarine plastisphere as an overlooked source of N2O production
Researchers found that the "plastisphere" — the community of microbes that colonizes floating plastic debris in estuaries — produces more nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) than surrounding water, revealing that plastic pollution may be quietly contributing to climate change through altered microbial chemistry.
Effects of microplastics on microbial community and greenhouse gas emission in soil: A critical review
This review examines how microplastics in soil affect microbial communities and greenhouse gas emissions, finding that microplastics can alter the abundance and activity of soil bacteria in ways that increase carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide release. The plastics change soil structure and chemistry, creating conditions that favor certain gas-producing microbes over others. These effects could worsen climate change while also disrupting soil fertility, with indirect consequences for food production.
Microplastic diversity stimulates N2O emission during NO3−-N transformation by altering microbial interaction and electron consumption in eutrophic water
Researchers examined how mixtures of different microplastic types in eutrophic water bodies affect nitrous oxide emissions during nitrogen transformation. They found that greater microplastic diversity significantly increased N2O emissions by altering microbial community interactions and electron transfer processes. The study suggests that the combined presence of multiple microplastic types may amplify their environmental impact on greenhouse gas emissions from water systems.
Smaller sizes of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics mainly stimulate heterotrophic N2O production in aerobic granular sludge systems
Researchers found that smaller PET microplastics (0.1 mm) more significantly stimulated nitrous oxide production in aerobic granular sludge wastewater treatment systems compared to larger particles. The smaller particles inhibited denitrifying metabolism and reduced the activity of enzymes responsible for consuming nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in wastewater treatment plants could undermine efforts toward carbon neutrality by increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenhouse gas cycling by the plastisphere: The sleeper issue of plastic pollution
The microbial community living on ocean microplastics (the plastisphere) appears to contribute to cycling of greenhouse gases CO2 and N2O in the South Pacific Ocean. This finding suggests that the plastisphere may play a previously unrecognized role in ocean biogeochemistry with implications for climate change.
Polyvinyl Chloride Microplastics Facilitate Nitrous Oxide Production in Partial Nitritation Systems
Researchers found that PVC microplastics in wastewater treatment systems can increase the production of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Higher concentrations of these plastic particles disrupted normal nitrogen-processing activity, while lower doses had minimal effect on overall system performance.
Microplastics and Climate Change: Unveiling Ecological Impacts and Addressing Research Gaps
This review synthesizes research from 2019 to 2024 on the mechanisms by which microplastics influence greenhouse gas emissions — including CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide — in terrestrial and aquatic environments, examining roles such as nutrient adsorption and microbial substrate provision. The authors highlight the particularly underexplored contribution of nitrous oxide, which has a global warming potential approximately 300 times that of CO2, and call for standardized methodologies and long-term field studies to assess cumulative climate impacts.
Impact of microplastics on riverine greenhouse gas emissions: a view point
This viewpoint examines how microplastic accumulation in rivers may alter microbial communities and disrupt biogeochemical cycles, potentially increasing greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and nitrous oxide from riverine ecosystems, identifying this as a critical but underexplored consequence of freshwater microplastic pollution.
Microplastics and Climate Change: Unveiling Ecological Impacts and Addressing Research Gaps
This review synthesizes studies from 2022 to 2024 on how microplastics contribute to greenhouse gas emissions — including CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide — through mechanisms such as nutrient adsorption and microbial colonization, identifying nitrous oxide interactions as a critical and underexplored research gap.
Reshaping the plastisphere upon deposition: Promote N2O production through affecting sediment microbial communities in aquaculture pond
This study examined how microplastics deposited in aquaculture pond sediments shape microbial biofilm communities (the plastisphere) and affect the broader sediment microbial community, including nitrogen-cycling bacteria involved in nitrous oxide production. Results showed that microplastics promoted N2O emissions by altering the sediment microbial structure.
Methane Production Mechanism and Control Strategies for Sewers: A Critical Review
Not relevant to microplastics — this review covers methane production mechanisms in urban sewer systems and strategies such as oxygen injection and iron dosing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater infrastructure.
Microplastics and their mechanisms in influencing methane oxidation: A physiological and ecological perspective
This review examines the physiological and ecological mechanisms by which microplastics influence methane oxidation processes in the environment, synthesising current understanding of how ubiquitous plastic contamination may disrupt microbial communities responsible for mitigating methane — a greenhouse gas 20-30 times more potent than CO2.
Emerging challenges of microplastic impacts to ecological health and climate change
This review examines how microplastics contribute not only to environmental pollution but also to climate change by altering microbial processes, disrupting biogeochemical cycles, and promoting greenhouse gas release. Researchers found that microplastics affect carbon cycling, phytoplankton photosynthesis, and atmospheric processes in ways that may exacerbate global warming. The study highlights significant knowledge gaps in understanding the mechanisms linking microplastic pollution to greenhouse gas emissions.
Status of Research on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wastewater Collection Systems
This paper is not directly about microplastics — it reviews greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater collection systems and estimates China's annual emissions, without a focus on plastic pollution.
Unveiling the plastisphere in anammox process: Physicochemical evolution of microplastics and microbial succession dynamics
Researchers tracked how polyethylene terephthalate microplastics change physically and chemically over 30 days in an anaerobic wastewater treatment system. They found that while the microplastics had minimal impact on nitrogen removal efficiency, they developed distinct microbial communities on their surfaces that evolved over time. The study provides new insights into how microplastics interact with beneficial microbes in wastewater treatment processes.
System-dependent effects and mechanisms of microplastics/nanoplastics on nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater treatment and N2O emission
Researchers reviewed the system-dependent effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency across various wastewater treatment systems, including activated sludge, constructed wetlands, and membrane bioreactors. The study found that these plastic particles also impact nitrous oxide emissions, with effects varying significantly depending on the treatment technology used.
A Study of the Effects of Microplastics on Microbial Communities in Marine Sediments
This study investigated how the presence of microplastics in marine sediments affects microbial communities and, specifically, the methane cycle, finding that microplastics significantly altered microbial community structure and function. Since marine sediment microbes play a critical role in regulating greenhouse gas emissions, microplastic contamination could have broader climate-relevant effects beyond direct toxicity.
Microbial Perspective: Regulatory Mechanisms of Interactions Between Microplastics and Dissolved Organic Matter on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Aquatic Ecosystems
This is a duplicate data deposit for the same study on microplastic and dissolved organic matter interactions affecting greenhouse gas emissions in aquatic ecosystems. The research addresses how microbial communities mediate these effects, with implications for understanding microplastics' role in aquatic carbon cycling and climate-relevant gas production.
Microplastics increase the microbial functional potential of greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution in a freshwater lake: A metagenomic study
A lab study found that adding common types of microplastics to freshwater lake water changed the microbial community in ways that could increase greenhouse gas production and water pollution. Microplastics, especially polyethylene, boosted genes involved in methane production and nitrogen loss from water. This suggests that microplastic pollution in lakes and reservoirs could have hidden environmental effects beyond direct toxicity, including contributing to climate change and degrading water quality.
Effects of microplastics on greenhouse gas emissions and microbial communities in sediment of freshwater systems
Researchers found that PET microplastics of different sizes significantly affected greenhouse gas emissions and microbial communities in freshwater sediments, with smaller particles (5 micrometers) notably increasing methane emissions and altering nutrient cycling over 90 days.