Evaluating wastewater effluent as a source of microplastics in environmental samples

Abstract

Microplastic’s (GESAMP, 2015) association with wastewater discharge predates 21st Century concerns with microplastic pollution. Synthetic clothing fibers and plastic microbeads from household laundering and consumer products have long been routed to wastewater treatment plants where it is reported that most are captured in the sewage sludge and the remainder emitted in the effluent (Fendal & Swell, 2009; Gregory, 1996; Habib et al., 1998; Ziajahromi et al., 2016). In the late 1990s synthetic fibers from clothing were proposed as an indicator of wastewater environmental fluxes after it was found that concentrations of synthetic fibers decreased with increasing distance from sewage sludge application or from outfalls (Habib et al., 1998). Today synthetic fibers are a recognized form of pollution that are increasingly monitored by environmental