Back to Search
Start Over
Occurrence of microplastics in raw and treated drinking water
- Source :
- Science of The Total Environment. 643:1644-1651
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2018.
-
Abstract
- 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 μm, while MPs smaller than 10 μm 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.
- Subjects :
- Pollution
Microplastics
Environmental Engineering
media_common.quotation_subject
Water source
0211 other engineering and technologies
Fresh Water
02 engineering and technology
010501 environmental sciences
01 natural sciences
Environmental Chemistry
Raw water
Waste Management and Disposal
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
media_common
021110 strategic, defence & security studies
Treated water
Drinking Water
Contamination
Fresh water
Environmental chemistry
Environmental science
Water treatment
Plastics
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Environmental Monitoring
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00489697
- Volume :
- 643
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Science of The Total Environment
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....0095f76fede29746d9447b48ff4f2d61