Occurrence and migration of microplastics and plasticizers in different wastewater and sludge treatment units in municipal wastewater treatment plant

doi:10.1007/s11783-022-1577-9

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (11) : 142 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1577-9

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Occurrence and migration of microplastics and plasticizers in different wastewater and sludge treatment units in municipal wastewater treatment plant

Sen Dong, Peng Gao, Benhang Li, Li Feng(

), Yongze Liu, Ziwen Du, Liqiu Zhang(

)

Beijing Key Laboratory for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, Engineering Research Center for Water Pollution Source Control and Eco-remediation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

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Abstract

● Reduce the quantifying MPs time by using Nile red staining.

● The removal rate of MPs and PAEs in wastewater and sludge were investigated.

● MPs and PAEs were firstly analyzed during thermal hydrolysis treatment.

● The removal of PAEs from wastewater and sludge was mainly biodegradation.

Microplastics (MPs) and plasticizers, such as phthalate esters (PAEs), were frequently detected in municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTP). Previous research mainly studied the removal of MPs and PAEs in wastewater. However, the occurrence of MPs and PAEs in the sludge was generally ignored. To comprehensively investigate the occurrence and the migration behaviors of MPs and PAEs in MWTP, a series of representative parameters including the number, size, color, shape of MPs, and the concentrations of PAEs in wastewater and sludge were systematically investigated. In this study, the concentrations of MPs in the influent and effluent were 15.46±0.37 and 0.30±0.14 particles/L. The MP removal efficiency of 98.1% was achieved and about 73.8% of MPs were accumulated in the sludge in the MWTP. The numbers of MPs in the sludge before and after digestion were 4.40±0.14 and 0.31±0.01 particles/g (dry sludge), respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR) analysis showed that the main types of MPs were polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polystyrene (PS). Six PAEs, including phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), ortho dibutyl phthalate (DBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), and bis(2-ethyl) hexyl phthalate (DEHP), were detected in the MWTP. The concentrations of total PAEs (ΣPAEs) in the influent and effluent were 76.66 and 6.28 µg/L, respectively. The concentrations of ΣPAEs in the sludge before and after digestion were 152.64 and 31.70 µg/g, respectively. In the process of thermal hydrolysis, the number and size of MPs decreased accompanied by the increase of the plasticizer concentration.

Keywords Microplastics Municipal wastewater treatment plant Phthalate esters Thermal hydrolysis

Corresponding Author(s): Li Feng,Liqiu Zhang

Issue Date: 31 May 2022

Cite this article:

Sen Dong,Peng Gao,Benhang Li, et al. Occurrence and migration of microplastics and plasticizers in different wastewater and sludge treatment units in municipal wastewater treatment plant[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(11): 142.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-022-1577-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2022/V16/I11/142

Fig.1 Sampling points in the selected MWTP.

Fig.2 The microscope images of MPs were stained with NR (a)–(c). The microscope images of MPs in the bright field after staining (d)–(f). The microscope images of the stained MPs in the dark field after processing with ImageJ software (g)–(i).

Fig.3 ATR FT-IR spectra of PE, PP, PA, and PET before and after stained by Nile Red solution.

Fig.4 Removal rates of MPs in the selected MWTP.

Fig.5 Number of MPs in wastewater (a) and sludge (b) samples (Note: The error bars are standard deviation) (n = 3).

Fig.6 Size distribution of MPs in wastewater (a) and sludge (b) samples (Note: The error bars are standard deviation) (n = 3).

Fig.7 Colors (A) and shapes (B) of MPs in wastewater and sludge samples (Note: The error bars are standard deviation) (n = 3).

Fig.8 Concentrations of PAEs in wastewater (a) and sludge (b) samples.

Fig.9 Change of FTIR spectrum over temperature for the sludge sample.

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