Microplastics: What Drinking Water Utilities Need to Know

Smith, E.P.; Dziewatkoski, Michael P.; Henrie, Tarrah; Seidel, Chad; Rosen, Jeffrey

doi:10.1002/awwa.1393

Cited by 7 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…However, plastics do contain toxic additives and can be associated with trace metals, and because they are hydrophobic, they tend to accumulate and concentrate harmful pollutants, including CECs (Bui et al, 2020). Aside from the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, there are no national regulations related to microplastics in the United States, nor are there standardized methods for analysis of microplastics in water (Smith et al, 2019). Other countries have instituted a variety of laws related to restrictions on disposable plastics (Shen et al, 2020).…”

Section: Plastic Pollutantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microplastics (0.1 μm to 5 mm) and nanoplastics (<0.1 μm) are a relatively new concern, and they are present in drinking water, water supply sources, wastewater, and residual solids from wastewater treatment (Bui et al, 2020; Shen et al, 2020). While it is unknown how these particles affect human health (Bui et al, 2020; Shen et al, 2020), some suggest that there is no immediate need for extreme concern (Smith et al, 2019). However, plastics do contain toxic additives and can be associated with trace metals, and because they are hydrophobic, they tend to accumulate and concentrate harmful pollutants, including CECs (Bui et al, 2020).…”

Section: Additional Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extending traditional water supplies in inland communities with nontraditional solutions to water scarcity

Scruggs

Heyne

2021

WIREs Water

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Urban communities around the world are grappling with the challenges associated with population increases, drought, and projected water shortages. With a substantial global shortfall between water supply and demand expected by 2030, water planning strategies must adapt to a new reality characterized by higher temperatures and less precipitation, requiring new ways of thinking about water management, use, and governance. Commonplace strategies such as water conservation and nonpotable water reuse might not be sufficient to adequately stretch water supplies in water-scarce parts of the industrialized world. In the United States, planned potable water reuse (i.e., purification of domestic wastewater for reuse as drinking water) is emerging as a way forward to mitigate water shortages without significant changes to lifestyle, behavior, or infrastructure. But potable reuse is not the only solution: paradigm shifting and disruptive options that more holistically address water scarcity, such as composting toilets and market-based approaches to water use, are also gaining traction, and they could be pursued alongside or instead of potable water reuse. However, these options would require more significant changes to lifestyles, behavior, infrastructure, and governance. While all of the options considered offer advantages, they each come with new concerns and challenges related to cost, public perception, social norms, and policy. The goal of this work is to consider a number of plausible solutions to water scarcity-partial and complete, traditional and disruptive-to stimulate forward-looking thinking about the increasingly common global problem of water scarcity.

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Section: Plastic Pollutantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Additional Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending traditional water supplies in inland communities with nontraditional solutions to water scarcity

Scruggs

Heyne

2021

WIREs Water

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“…Data show that the annual global plastic production as of 2019 is more than 369 million tons a year [1] , and it is estimated that it may exceed a billion tons by 2050 [2,3] . Its widespread use and the fact that the complete biodegradability of plastic materials can take up to 450 years mean plastics tend to accumulate in different types of environments, especially in aquatic ecosystems where, if they were not already released as microplastics (MPs), they can result from the breakdown of plastics by physical or chemical erosion or due to the action of UV light either on land or in water [4,5] . MPs include a wide range of materials (thousands of different plastics), each with its own chemical composition and characteristics, such as size (ranging from 0.1 to 5000 µm), shape (fibers, films, pellets, fragments, and foams), and color (transparent, red, green, blue, black, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In parallel, the last decades have witnessed an exponential evolution in the diversity and quality of analytical methods to determine MPs, which has led to significant gains in selectivity and sensitivity as well as decreases in the determinable particle size [3,4,9,10,[28][29][30][31][32] . Optical techniques continue to play an important role in the identification and quantification of microplastics, but there is a need to confirm their chemical composition by vibrational or chromatographic techniques.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics in water, from treatment process to drinking water: analytical methods and potential health effects

Picó¹,

Manzoor²,

Soursou³

et al. 2022

Water Emerg Contam Nanoplastics

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Aim: The commonly used analytical methods for microplastic (MPs) detection in drinking water and the threat of MP pollution in water intended for human consumption to human beings are presented through a systematic review. Furthermore, MP occurrence, transport, and fate from raw to treated drinking water, tap water, and bottled water, as well as the possible health impacts of MPs on human beings, are also evaluated. Methods: Systematic review included articles published in scientific journals that contain specific keywords in the title and were searched in Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus. The literature was selected and extracted by two reviewers based on the PRISMA-A guidelines, which recommend including 57 items. Results: The experimental studies pointed out that sampling is performed using grab or reduced samples, and sample treatment involves mostly oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and density separation. The minimum sample size obtainable in the extraction and the maximum density of the polymer separable from the matrix provided different results. Clearly, the determination of MPs involves the simultaneous application of several analytical techniques, including optical, fluorescence, and electronic microscopies, µFTIR, µ-Raman, and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The determination technique also provides different results according to the sensitivity as well as the minimum size determinable. These studies are mostly devoted to establishing the occurrence, transport, and fate within the supply network, the efficiency in removal of MPs from drinking water by treatment plants, and the risk to humans. The MP concentration in drinking water reservoirs is highly variable. However, tap water always presents lower concentrations of MPs than the water that enters the drinking water treatment plants because the different treatments are efficient at removing MPs. Although it has not been fully demonstrated that MPs are toxic to humans, the effects point to oxidative stress, gastrointestinal irritation, microbiome irregularities, and changes in lipid metabolism. Conclusion: Analytical methods present some common features as a first step towards harmonization. However, it is still unknown whether the analytical methods could influence the disparity of the results. The MP concentration in drinking water is low in comparison to other types of water. MPs are not exempt from hazards to human health.

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“…We have also learned that conventional wastewater treatment plants do not completely remove MPs and can be point sources of aquatic MPs [8][9][10][11]. Simultaneously, MPs in source water and processed or bottled drinking water have been a growing concern for water utilities and the general public [12]. Controlled lab studies are elucidating the molecular pathways of organismal responses to aquatic MPs, including nanoplastics (NPs) [13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lake Phytoplankton Assemblage Altered by Irregularly Shaped PLA Body Wash Microplastics but Not by PS Calibration Beads

Yokota

Mehlrose

2020

Water

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Microplastics are an emerging environmental pollutant, whose global ubiquity is becoming increasingly evident. Conventional wastewater treatment does not completely remove them, and there are growing concerns about microplastics in source water and post-treatment drinking water. Microplastics have been reported to alter the development, physiology, and behavior of various aquatic organisms; however, limited knowledge exists on their effect on natural phytoplankton communities. Many studies also use uniformly spherical plastic beads, while most scrub particles in consumer products and secondary microplastics in the environment have various shapes and sizes. We tested the effects of two types of microplastics, 50 µm polystyrene (PS) calibration beads and polylactic acid (PLA) plastic body wash scrub particles, and one type of plant-derived body wash scrub particle on a natural phytoplankton assemblage through a 7-day incubation experiment in a temperate, mesotrophic lake. The calibration beads and the plant-derived particles generally did not alter the taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton in the mesocosms, while the PLA body wash microplastics eliminated cryptophytes (p < 0.001) and increased chrysophytes (p = 0.041). Our findings demonstrate differential effects of irregularly shaped PLA body wash microplastics vs. PS calibration beads on lake phytoplankters and empirically support potential bottom-up alteration of the aquatic food web by secondary microplastics.

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Microplastics: What Drinking Water Utilities Need to Know

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

Extending traditional water supplies in inland communities with nontraditional solutions to water scarcity

Extending traditional water supplies in inland communities with nontraditional solutions to water scarcity

Microplastics in water, from treatment process to drinking water: analytical methods and potential health effects

Lake Phytoplankton Assemblage Altered by Irregularly Shaped PLA Body Wash Microplastics but Not by PS Calibration Beads

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