Microplastics from industrial sources: A known but overlooked problem

IF 6.3 2区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Journal of water process engineering Pub Date : 2025-03-21 DOI:10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.107487

Ozan Karakurt, Oğuzhan Altuntaş, İrem Şimşek, Dilara Hatinoğlu, F. Dilek Sanin

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Abstract

Current studies suggest that industrial wastewaters can be major sources of microplastics (MPs), but specific studies are rare in regard to specific industries and organized industrial zones (OIZs). This study addresses this gap by analyzing two different OIZs and two selected industries from each in terms of their MPs concentrations, characteristics, their diurnal variation and the effect of pretreatments employed by the industries. One OIZ contains an industrial WWTP (IWWTP) so the effect of this plant by the analysis of wastewater from inlet, outlet as well as wastewater and sludge from specific units are evaluated. MPs encountered had a variety of sizes, but the smallest size (38 μm to 425 μm) dominated almost all the samples analyzed. Variety of plastics have been observed including the most common types as well as rare ones. MPs' relative abundances changed and diversity decreased after treatment. It is shown that IWWTPs can reduce MP concentrations up to 95 %, and results in the capture of 127 million particles each day. However, the results also show that industrial wastewaters can still emit 7.6 million particles, which indicates both the magnitude of the problem and the effectiveness of WWTPs, considering that the other OIZ without a WWTP discharges 384 million MPs daily.

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来源期刊

Journal of water process engineering Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Biotechnology

CiteScore

10.70

自引率

8.60%

发文量

846

审稿时长

24 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Water Process Engineering aims to publish refereed, high-quality research papers with significant novelty and impact in all areas of the engineering of water and wastewater processing . Papers on advanced and novel treatment processes and technologies are particularly welcome. The Journal considers papers in areas such as nanotechnology and biotechnology applications in water, novel oxidation and separation processes, membrane processes (except those for desalination) , catalytic processes for the removal of water contaminants, sustainable processes, water reuse and recycling, water use and wastewater minimization, integrated/hybrid technology, process modeling of water treatment and novel treatment processes. Submissions on the subject of adsorbents, including standard measurements of adsorption kinetics and equilibrium will only be considered if there is a genuine case for novelty and contribution, for example highly novel, sustainable adsorbents and their use: papers on activated carbon-type materials derived from natural matter, or surfactant-modified clays and related minerals, would not fulfil this criterion. The Journal particularly welcomes contributions involving environmentally, economically and socially sustainable technology for water treatment, including those which are energy-efficient, with minimal or no chemical consumption, and capable of water recycling and reuse that minimizes the direct disposal of wastewater to the aquatic environment. Papers that describe novel ideas for solving issues related to water quality and availability are also welcome, as are those that show the transfer of techniques from other disciplines. The Journal will consider papers dealing with processes for various water matrices including drinking water (except desalination), domestic, urban and industrial wastewaters, in addition to their residues. It is expected that the journal will be of particular relevance to chemical and process engineers working in the field. The Journal welcomes Full Text papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors and Case Studies