Adsorption of Different Pollutants by Using Microplastic with Different Influencing Factors and Mechanisms in Wastewater: A Review

Abstract

The studies on microplastics are significant in the world. According to the literature, microplastics have greatly specific surface areas, indicating high adsorption capacities for highly toxic pollutants in aquatic and soil environments, and these could be used as adsorbents. The influencing factors of microplastic adsorption, classification of microplastics, and adsorption mechanisms using microplastics for adsorbing organic, inorganic, and mixed pollutants are summarized in the paper. Furthermore, the influence of pH, temperature, functional groups, aging, and other factors related to the adsorption performances of plastics are discussed in detail. We found that microplastics have greater advantages in efficient adsorption performance and cost-effectiveness. In this paper, the adsorptions of pollutants by microplastics and their performance is proposed, which provides significant guidance for future research in this field.

An alternative numerical approach for an improved ecological model of interconnected lakes with a fixed pollutant

“…This research is also significant regarding microplastic absorption into the food chain and, by extension, its impact on human health. By contrast, microplastics are used consciously for pollutant adsorption in sewage treatment, and adsorption technology combined with microplastics is improved increasingly in other environmental treatment applications (Zhao et al 2022 ). Adsorbent materials with a recyclability property for the removal of organic pollutants also exist (Singh and Vaish 2019 ).…”

Microfiber Pollution in the Earth System

“…Microfiber released from textile wastewater is considerably higher than from municipal sewage treatment plants, heavily contributing to microfiber pollution. The microfiber concentration was up to 54,100 microfibers/L in textile printing and dyeing wastewater sampled in three typical textile mills in Keqiao textile industrial park in southeast China (Zhou et al 2020 ). Correspondingly, the effluents from the centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of the same park reached as high as 537 microfibers/L, which means that 430 billion microfibers were discharged daily by WWTPs (Zhou et al 2020 ).…”

“…The microfiber concentration was up to 54,100 microfibers/L in textile printing and dyeing wastewater sampled in three typical textile mills in Keqiao textile industrial park in southeast China (Zhou et al 2020 ). Correspondingly, the effluents from the centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of the same park reached as high as 537 microfibers/L, which means that 430 billion microfibers were discharged daily by WWTPs (Zhou et al 2020 ). Microfiber released from textile wastewater is considerably higher than municipal sewage treatment plants, significantly contributing to microfiber pollution (Liu et al 2021 ).…”

“…Additionally, more than 100,000 chemical additives, such as natural and synthetic dyes, softening, ultraviolet protective, and antimicrobial and antiviral agents, have been widely used during fiber, yarn, and fabric manufacturing or finishing processes to endow some special functional properties to textiles, for example, dope additives, including but not limited to plasticizers, dyes, pigments, fire retardants, and UV absorbers, which might be ecotoxic. Considering that microfibers in the marine environment are the reservoirs for antibiotic, metal-resistance genes (Akhbarizadeh et al 2020a ) and microbial communities (Mishra et al 2022 ; Yang et al 2019 ), the toxic substances adhering on or released from microfibers may threaten the survival, feeding, and fecundity of marine organisms, and represent a great risk for marine biodiversity (Guzzetti et al 2018 ; Vroom et al 2017 ).…”

The removal capacities of three filamentous fungi to remediate floating microplastic particles

“…Once released into the environment plastics pose severe risks: beside physical damage, plastic additives, such as phthalates or bisphenol A, can act as endocrine inhibitors and potentially alter hormone signalling affecting metabolism and reproduction [3]. Moreover, the hydrophobic surface of plastics is suspected to provide protective conditions for invasive and harmful microbes, growing in the "plastisphere" [4] and absorbs varieties of harmful agents, such as pesticides, heavy metals and antibiotics [5]. Size and properties of nanoparticles allow adsorption, transfer and accumulation in and within organisms and even cells, hence posing risks for the entire food web, including humans [2].…”