Recent approaches and advanced wastewater treatment technologies for mitigating emerging microplastics contamination-A critical review

Microplastics have been identified as an emerging pollutant due to their irrefutable prevalence in air, soil, and partic-ularly, the aquatic ecosystem. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are seen as the last line of defense which creates a barrier between microplastics and the environment. These microplastics are discharged in large quantities into aquatic bodies due to their insufficient containment during water treatment. As a result, WWTPs are regarded as point sources of microplastics release into the environment. Assessing the prevalence and behavior of microplastics in WWTPs is therefore critical for their control. The removal efficiency of microplastics was 65 %, 0.2-14 %, and 0.2-2 % after the successful primary, secondary and tertiary treatment phases in WWTPs. In this review, other than conventional treatment methods, advanced treatment methods have also been discussed. For the removal of microplastics in the size range 20-190 mu m, advanced treatment methods like membrane bioreactors, rapid sand filtra-tion, electrocoagulation and photocatalytic degradation was found to be effective and these methods helps in increas-ing the removal efficiency to >99 %. Bioremediation based approaches has found that sea grasses, lugworm and blue mussels has the ability to mitigate microplastics by acting as a natural trap to the microplastics pollutants and could act as candidate species for possible incorporation in WWTPs. Also, there is a need for controlling the use and unchecked release of microplastics into the environment through laws and regulations.

Automated summary

Microplastics are acknowledged as an emerging pollutant and are widely present in the air, soil, and especially the aquatic ecosystem. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are seen as the last defense against microplastics entering the environment. However, due to insufficient containment during water treatment, microplastics are discharged into aquatic bodies in large quantities, making WWTPs a significant source of microplastics release. Assessing the presence and behavior of microplastics in WWTPs is crucial for their control.