Do Microplastics Affect Biological Wastewater Treatment Performance? Implications from Bacterial Activity Experiments

Liu, H; Zhou, X; Ding, W; Zhang, Z; Nghiem, LD; Sun, J; Wang, Q

Do Microplastics Affect Biological Wastewater Treatment Performance? Implications from Bacterial Activity Experiments

Liu, H Zhou, X Ding, W Zhang, Z Nghiem, LD

Sun, J Wang, Q

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 2019
Issue Date:: 2019-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Liu, H	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Zhou, X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ding, W	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, Z	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Nghiem, LD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9039-5792	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sun, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wang, Q https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5744-2331	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-11-30T18:05:31Z
dc.date.issued	2019-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 2019	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/138430
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 American Chemical Society. Microplastics have been ubiquitously detected in the wastewater treatment plants, while their effects on the activities of wastewater treatment bacteria have never been evaluated. This study investigated the effects of polyester (PES), polyethylene (PE), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics (100-1200 μm; 50-10000 particles/L) on the activities of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), denitrifiers, and polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs). The activities of AOB and NOB without microplastics addition are 6.3 ± 0.3 and 4.0 ± 0.4 mg N/g MLVSS/h (MLVSS: mixed liquor volatile suspended solids), which are similar (p > 0.05) to their activities (5.2 ± 0.7 to 6.8 ± 0.8 and 3.7 ± 0.9 to 5.1 ± 0.8 mg N/g MLVSS/h) with microplastics addition. Similarly, the activities of denitrifiers and PAOs without microplastics addition (14.1 ± 1.1 mg N/g MLVSS/h and 29.2 ± 0.9 mg P/g MLVSS/h) are comparable (p > 0.05) to those with microplastics addition (12.8 ± 1.2 to 15.1 ± 0.5 mg N/g MLVSS/h and 28.0 ± 1.1 to 29.7 ± 2.4 mg P/g MLVSS/h). The results demonstrated that microplastics do not significantly affect the activities of AOB, NOB, denitrifiers, and PAOs, and therefore the effect of microplastics on the wastewater treatment performance should not be overemphasized.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b05960	en_US
dc.title	Do Microplastics Affect Biological Wastewater Treatment Performance? Implications from Bacterial Activity Experiments	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	0907 Environmental Engineering	en_US
utslib.for	0305 Organic Chemistry	en_US
utslib.for	0301 Analytical Chemistry	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	0904 Chemical Engineering	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CTWW - Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater Treatment
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Students
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019 American Chemical Society. Microplastics have been ubiquitously detected in the wastewater treatment plants, while their effects on the activities of wastewater treatment bacteria have never been evaluated. This study investigated the effects of polyester (PES), polyethylene (PE), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics (100-1200 μm; 50-10000 particles/L) on the activities of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), denitrifiers, and polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs). The activities of AOB and NOB without microplastics addition are 6.3 ± 0.3 and 4.0 ± 0.4 mg N/g MLVSS/h (MLVSS: mixed liquor volatile suspended solids), which are similar (p > 0.05) to their activities (5.2 ± 0.7 to 6.8 ± 0.8 and 3.7 ± 0.9 to 5.1 ± 0.8 mg N/g MLVSS/h) with microplastics addition. Similarly, the activities of denitrifiers and PAOs without microplastics addition (14.1 ± 1.1 mg N/g MLVSS/h and 29.2 ± 0.9 mg P/g MLVSS/h) are comparable (p > 0.05) to those with microplastics addition (12.8 ± 1.2 to 15.1 ± 0.5 mg N/g MLVSS/h and 28.0 ± 1.1 to 29.7 ± 2.4 mg P/g MLVSS/h). The results demonstrated that microplastics do not significantly affect the activities of AOB, NOB, denitrifiers, and PAOs, and therefore the effect of microplastics on the wastewater treatment performance should not be overemphasized.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/138430