How to detect small microplastics (20–100 μm) in freshwater, municipal wastewaters and landfill leachates? A trial from sampling to identification

Waldman

et al. 2020

Environ. Sci. Technol.

147

With an increasing interest in the effects of microplastic in the soil environment, there is a need to thoroughly evaluate potential adverse effects of these particles as a function of their characteristics (size, shape, and composition). In addition, extractable chemical additives from microplastic have been identified as an important toxicity pathway in the aquatic environment. However, we currently know little about effects of such additives in the soil environment. In this study on nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans), we adopted an ecotoxicological approach to assess the potential effects of thirteen different microplastics with different characteristics and extractable additives. We found that toxic effects appear to increase in the order of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film < polypropylene (PP) fragments < high-density polyethylene (HDPE) fragments ≈ polystyrene (PS) fragments < polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fragments ≈ polyacrylicnitrile (PAN) fibers. Acute toxicity was mainly attributed to the extractable additives: when the additives were extracted, the toxic effects of each microplastic disappeared in the acute soil toxicity test. The harmful effects of LDPE film and PAN fibers increased when the microplastics were maintained in soil for a longterm period with frequent wet-dry cycles. We here provide clear evidence that microplastic toxicity in the soil is highly related to particle characteristics and extractable additives. Our results suggest that future experiments consider extractable additives as a key explanatory variable.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Different Microplastics on Nematodes in the Soil Environment: Tracking the Extractable Additives Using an Ecotoxicological Approach

Waldman

et al. 2020

Environ. Sci. Technol.

147

Section: Solid Waste Disposal Facilities and Their Potential Role As A Source For Microplasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Approximately 52 million tons of municipal waste materials were stored in landfills of the EU countries in 2018 [ 90 ]. According to Xu et al [ 90 ], this amount corresponds to 10.4 million m 3 of leachate formation and 3.03 billion in microplastic release to the environment. Considering that these values were only obtained in the EU countries, the amount of the microplastic release for the whole world would be much higher.…”

Section: Solid Waste Disposal Facilities and Their Potential Role As A Source For Microplasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic Contamination in Soils: A Review from Geotechnical Engineering View

Monkul

Ozhan

2021

Polymers

Microplastic contamination is a growing threat to marine and freshwater ecosystems, agricultural production, groundwater, plant growth and even human and animal health. Disintegration of plastic products due to mainly biochemical or physical activities leads to the formation and existence of microplastics in significant amounts, not only in marine and freshwater environments but also in soils. There are several valuable studies on microplastics in soils, which have typically focused on environmental, chemical, agricultural and health aspects. However, there is also a need for the geotechnical engineering perspective on microplastic contamination in soils. In this review paper, first, degradation, existence and persistence of microplastics in soils are assessed by considering various studies. Then, the potential role of solid waste disposal facilities as a source for microplastics is discussed by considering their geotechnical design and addressing the risk for the migration of microplastics from landfills to soils and other environments. Even though landfills are considered as one of the main geotechnical structures that contribute to the formation of considerably high amounts of microplastics and their contamination in soils, some other geotechnical engineering applications (i.e., soil improvement with tirechips, forming engineering fills with dredged sediments, soil improvement with synthetic polymer-based fibers, polystyrene based lightweight fill applications), as potential local source for microplastics, are also mentioned. Finally, the importance of geotechnical engineering as a mitigation tool for microplastics is emphasized and several important research topics involving geotechnical engineering are suggested.

“…However, recently, the industry standard ISO/TR 21960:2020 (International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 2020) for methods of estimation of MPs was published. In addition, detecting MPs smaller than 300 µm involves methodological challenges and, thus, a detection methodology has not yet been established (Xu et al, 2020). Reduced scientific data exist on the occurrence of MPs in WWTPs for urban and industrial sewage (Sun et al, 2019), storm water (Hitchcock, 2020), terrestrial ecosystems (Rillig and Lehmann, 2020) and air emissions (Zhang et al, 2020).…”

Section: Measures To Reduce and Eliminate The Release Of Mps From Terrestrial Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of failure mode and effects analysis to reduce microplastic emissions

Pires

Sobral

2021

Waste Manag Res

A complete understanding of the occurrence of microplastics and the methods to eliminate their sources is an urgent necessity to minimize the pollution caused by microplastics. The use of plastics in any form releases microplastics to the environment. Existing policy instruments are insufficient to address microplastics pollution and regulatory measures have focussed only on the microbeads and single-use plastics. Fees on the use of plastic products may possibly reduce their usage, but effective management of plastic products at their end-of-life is lacking. Therefore, in this study, the microplastic–failure mode and effect analysis (MP–FMEA) methodology, which is a semi-qualitative approach capable of identifying the causes and proposing solutions for the issue of microplastics pollution, has been proposed. The innovative feature of MP–FMEA is that it has a pre-defined failure mode, that is, the release of microplastics to air, water and soil (depending on the process) or the occurrence of microplastics in the final product. Moreover, a theoretical recycling plant case study was used to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of this method. The results revealed that MP–FMEA is an easy and heuristic technique to understand the failure-effect-causes and solutions for reduction of microplastics and can be applied by researchers working in different domains apart from those relating to microplastics. Future studies can include the evaluation of the use of MP–FMEA methodology along with quantitative methods for effective reduction in the release of microplastics.