Department of Environmental Technologies, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska 24, 31-155, Kraków, Poland.
Microb Ecol. 2024 Aug 12;87(1):105. doi: 10.1007/s00248-024-02422-y.
Despite some effectiveness of wastewater treatment processes, microplastics accumulate in sewage sludge and their further use may contribute to the release of plastic microplastics into the environment. There is an urgent need to reduce the amount of microplastics in sewage sludge. Plastic particles serve as solid substrates for various microorganisms, promoting the formation of microbial biofilms with different metabolic activities. The biofilm environment associated with microplastics will determine the efficiency of treatment processes, especially biological methods, and the mechanisms of organic compound conversion. A significant source of microplastics is the land application of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants. The detrimental impact of microplastics affects soil enzymatic activity, soil microorganisms, flora, fauna, and plant production. This review article summarizes the development of research related to microplastics and discusses the issue of microplastic introduction from sewage sludge. Given that microplastics can contain complex composite polymers and form a plastisphere, further research is needed to understand their potential environmental impact, pathogenicity, and the characteristics of biofilms in wastewater treatment systems. The article also discusses the physicochemical properties of microplastics in wastewater treatment plants and their role in biofilm formation. Then, the article explained the impact of these properties on the possibility of the formation of biofilms on their surface due to the peculiar structure of microorganisms and also characterized what factors enable the formation of specific plastisphere in wastewater treatment plants. It highlights the urgent need to understand the basic information about microplastics to assess environmental toxicity more rationally, enabling better pollution control and the development of regulatory standards to manage microplastics entering the environment.
尽管废水处理过程具有一定的效果，但微塑料仍会在污水污泥中积累，而进一步使用这些污泥可能会导致塑料微塑料释放到环境中。因此，迫切需要减少污水污泥中的微塑料含量。塑料颗粒可作为各种微生物的固体基质，促进具有不同代谢活性的微生物生物膜的形成。与微塑料相关的生物膜环境将决定处理过程的效率，特别是生物方法和有机化合物转化的机制。微塑料的一个重要来源是来自污水处理厂的污水污泥的土地应用。微塑料的有害影响会影响土壤酶活性、土壤微生物、植物区系、动物区系和植物生产。本文综述了与微塑料相关的研究进展，并讨论了来自污水污泥的微塑料引入问题。鉴于微塑料可能含有复杂的复合聚合物并形成一个塑料圈，因此需要进一步研究以了解它们的潜在环境影响、致病性以及在废水处理系统中的生物膜特征。本文还讨论了污水处理厂中微塑料的物理化学性质及其在生物膜形成中的作用。然后，本文解释了这些特性如何由于微生物的特殊结构而导致其表面形成生物膜的可能性，并对哪些因素能够在污水处理厂中形成特定的塑料圈进行了特征描述。本文强调了迫切需要了解微塑料的基本信息，以便更合理地评估环境毒性，从而更好地进行污染控制和制定管理进入环境的微塑料的监管标准。
