Bisht Heena, Maurya Ankita C, Channashettar Veeranna, Jeyaseelan C Paul, Siddhanta Soumik, Lal Banwari, Khare Sunil K, Kuppanan Nanthakumar
Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), IHC, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 110003, India.
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, 110016, India.
Environ Monit Assess. 2025 Jun 23;197(7):791. doi: 10.1007/s10661-025-14244-7.
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered the most significant contributors to microplastic (MP) pollution in aquatic ecosystems. MPs are defined as plastic particles less than 5 mm in size that are difficult to remove by WWTPs, posing risks to aquatic life, human health, and the overall ecosystem. This study investigates the prevalence of MPs in influent wastewater, treated effluent water, and sludge from WWTP. The samples were collected from Keshopur WWTP in New Delhi, whose effluents flows into the Yamuna River via Najafgarh drain. The collected samples were filtered through various sieves, digested with wet peroxide oxidation, sorted, and assessed. Visual inspection and microscopic analysis showed that the majority of MPs in the samples were blue, red, golden, white, and green in color, appearing as fibers, films, fragments, pellets, and beads. The abundance of MPs has been estimated to be 7 MPs/L in influent, 4 MPs/L in treated effluent, and 993 MPs/kg in sludge. The chemical composition of MPs was determined using Raman spectroscopy and was identified as polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and polyvinyl alcohol. Notably, polypropylene was most prevalent in sludge (40.27%), while polyester dominated in influent wastewater (63.93%) and treated effluent water (61.76%). The average removal effectiveness of MPs in WWTP was discovered to be only 42.86%. The polymer hazard index employed MP risk assessment, whereby indicated a high to danger category of pollution. Therefore, understanding the behavior of MPs within WWTPs is crucial for developing more effective treatment strategies and mitigating their impact on the environment.
污水处理厂被认为是水生生态系统中微塑料（MP）污染的最重要来源。微塑料被定义为尺寸小于5毫米的塑料颗粒，污水处理厂难以将其去除，这对水生生物、人类健康和整个生态系统构成风险。本研究调查了污水处理厂进水、处理后的出水和污泥中微塑料的存在情况。样本取自新德里的凯肖布尔污水处理厂，其污水通过纳贾夫加尔排水渠流入亚穆纳河。收集的样本通过各种筛网过滤，经湿过氧化氢氧化消化、分类和评估。目视检查和显微镜分析表明，样本中的大多数微塑料颜色为蓝色、红色、金色、白色和绿色，呈现为纤维、薄膜、碎片、颗粒和珠子状。据估计，进水的微塑料丰度为7个/升，处理后的出水为4个/升，污泥为993个/千克。使用拉曼光谱法测定了微塑料的化学成分，确定为聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯、聚苯乙烯、聚乙烯、聚丙烯、聚酯和聚乙烯醇。值得注意的是，聚丙烯在污泥中最为普遍（40.27%），而聚酯在进水（63.93%）和处理后的出水中占主导地位（61.76%）。发现污水处理厂中微塑料的平均去除效率仅为42.86%。采用聚合物危害指数进行微塑料风险评估，结果表明污染程度为高到危险等级。因此，了解微塑料在污水处理厂中的行为对于制定更有效的处理策略和减轻其对环境的影响至关重要。
