Journal
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 643, Issue -, Pages 1644-1651Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.102
Keywords
Drinking water sources; Microplastics; Nanoplastics; Plastic contamination; Water treatment
Categories
Funding
- Czech Science Foundation, Czech Republic [GA18-14445S]
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic [RVO: 67985874]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The study investigates the content of microplastic particles in freshwater and drinking water. Specifically, three water treatment plants (WTPs) supplied by different kinds of water bodies were selected and their raw and treated water was analysed for microplastics (MPs). Microplastics were found in all water samples and their average abundance ranged from 1473 +/- 34 to 3605 +/- 497 particles L-1 in raw water and from 338 +/- 76 to 628 +/- 28 particles L-1 in treated water, depending on the WTP. This study is one of very few that determine microplastics down to the size of 1 mu m, while MPs smaller than 10 mu m were the most plentiful in both raw and treated water samples, accounting for up to 95%. Further, MPs were divided into three categories according to their shape. Fragments clearly prevailed at two of the WTPs and fibres together with fragments predominated at one case. Despite 12 different materials forming the microplastics being identified, the majority of the MPs (>70%) comprised of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene) and PE (polyethylene). This study contributes to fill the knowledge gap in the field of emerging microplastic pollution of drinking water and water sources, which is of concern due to the potential exposure of microplastics to humans. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available