María del Refugio Cabañas-Mendoza , Eugenia J. Olguín , Gloria Sánchez-Galván , Francisco J. Melo , María Susana Alvarado Barrientos
{"title":"Contribution of the root system of Cyperus papyrus and Pontederia sagittata to microplastic removal in floating treatment Wetlands in two urban ponds","authors":"María del Refugio Cabañas-Mendoza , Eugenia J. Olguín , Gloria Sánchez-Galván , Francisco J. Melo , María Susana Alvarado Barrientos","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107334","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Microplastic pollution represents a global challenge that threatens ecosystems and human health. Because of this, there has been an increased interest in evaluating the use of phytotechnologies as a natural alternative for the removal of microplastics in water bodies. This study assessed the microplastic removal by Floating Treatment Wetlands (FTWs) consisting of linear arrays planted with <em>Cyperus papyrus</em> and <em>Pontederia sagittata</em>, installed in two urban ponds (“Pond 1” and “Pond 4”) located in the center of the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. The results indicated that the two linear arrays of FTWs in Pond 1 (FTW1 and FTW2) efficiently removed microplastics in water column and sediments, with total removal rates of 82.4% and 81.1% respectively, despite having a high initial microplastic concentration. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the two FTWs in Pond 4 was mainly attributed to the first line of plants (FTW3), where the highest removal rates were observed, showing 61.6% in water column and 72.6% in sediments. However, the total removal of the two lines was 64.6% in water and 48.8% in sediments. <em>C. papyrus</em> and <em>P. sagittata</em> plants strongly retained microplastics in their roots, with concentrations of 16.4 and 11.9 mg/g respectively for FTW1 and FTW2 in Pond 1, and 2.1 and 6 mg/g for FTW3 and FTW 4 in Pond 4. These results suggest that the main removal microplastic mechanism was root retention, which facilitates microplastic removal from the aquatic environment by periodical root harvesting. Therefore, the crucial role of roots in the stabilization and reduction of these pollutants is highlighted. This study represents the first report in Mexico on the efficiency of FTWs in removing microplastics in urban water bodies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"206 ","pages":"Article 107334"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecological Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925857424001599","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Microplastic pollution represents a global challenge that threatens ecosystems and human health. Because of this, there has been an increased interest in evaluating the use of phytotechnologies as a natural alternative for the removal of microplastics in water bodies. This study assessed the microplastic removal by Floating Treatment Wetlands (FTWs) consisting of linear arrays planted with Cyperus papyrus and Pontederia sagittata, installed in two urban ponds (“Pond 1” and “Pond 4”) located in the center of the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. The results indicated that the two linear arrays of FTWs in Pond 1 (FTW1 and FTW2) efficiently removed microplastics in water column and sediments, with total removal rates of 82.4% and 81.1% respectively, despite having a high initial microplastic concentration. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the two FTWs in Pond 4 was mainly attributed to the first line of plants (FTW3), where the highest removal rates were observed, showing 61.6% in water column and 72.6% in sediments. However, the total removal of the two lines was 64.6% in water and 48.8% in sediments. C. papyrus and P. sagittata plants strongly retained microplastics in their roots, with concentrations of 16.4 and 11.9 mg/g respectively for FTW1 and FTW2 in Pond 1, and 2.1 and 6 mg/g for FTW3 and FTW 4 in Pond 4. These results suggest that the main removal microplastic mechanism was root retention, which facilitates microplastic removal from the aquatic environment by periodical root harvesting. Therefore, the crucial role of roots in the stabilization and reduction of these pollutants is highlighted. This study represents the first report in Mexico on the efficiency of FTWs in removing microplastics in urban water bodies.
期刊介绍:
Ecological engineering has been defined as the design of ecosystems for the mutual benefit of humans and nature. The journal is meant for ecologists who, because of their research interests or occupation, are involved in designing, monitoring, or restoring ecosystems, and can serve as a bridge between ecologists and engineers.
Specific topics covered in the journal include: habitat reconstruction; ecotechnology; synthetic ecology; bioengineering; restoration ecology; ecology conservation; ecosystem rehabilitation; stream and river restoration; reclamation ecology; non-renewable resource conservation. Descriptions of specific applications of ecological engineering are acceptable only when situated within context of adding novelty to current research and emphasizing ecosystem restoration. We do not accept purely descriptive reports on ecosystem structures (such as vegetation surveys), purely physical assessment of materials that can be used for ecological restoration, small-model studies carried out in the laboratory or greenhouse with artificial (waste)water or crop studies, or case studies on conventional wastewater treatment and eutrophication that do not offer an ecosystem restoration approach within the paper.