Author: getwetprojectblog

Wastewater treatment plants are not effectively removing this tiny pollutant, study shows

Thursday, Jun 05, 2025 • Katherine Egan Bennett : Contact

By Un-Jung Kim, Karthikraj Rajendiran and Jenny Kim Nguyen for the The Dallas Morning News

The potential health and environmental hazards from microplastics filtered into our drinking water is real. Microplastics are tiny solid plastic particles, less than 5 millimeters in size, that result from the breakdown of larger plastics or are directly found in some of the consumer products.

Our recently published research in the peer-reviewed journal Science of the Total Environment systematically reviewed over 120 research articles from the past 10 years on microplastics in wastewater treatment plants.

These articles were selected based on specific criteria, allowing for an in-depth analysis of the occurrence, removal rates and behaviors of microplastic fibers and beads in wastewater and water environments. Our study gives the latest information on where microplastics are found, what happens to them, how they affect health and current regulations. It also includes details about their size and shape, specifically microfibers and microbeads found in wastewater.

The study highlights that while most wastewater treatment facilities significantly reduce inflowing microplastics loads, complete removal remains impossible with current technologies.

Microfibers, primarily shed from synthetic textiles like polyester, dominate wastewater streams. Microbeads, even though there are fewer of them now because of bans, still cause pollution because they release harmful chemicals like plastic softeners and fire-resistant additives.

As a result, many microplastics are being reintroduced to the environment, likely transporting other residual harmful pollutants in wastewater, including chemicals, pesticides and antibiotics.

Right now, the release of microplastics from wastewater treatment facilities is inevitable. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the exposure risks to not only microplastics but the relevant organic chemical pollutants that can be released from or absorbed on the microplastics and transported along with the microplastics from wastewater treatment plants into receiving environmental water systems.

Many of the chemicals that stick to microplastics can mess with hormones and be harmful even in tiny amounts. If microplastics and these chemicals keep getting released into the environment, they could cause serious long-term health problems for people, like increasing the risk of heart disease and cancer.

Despite advancements in wastewater treatment technologies to keep harmful pollutants out of water sources, findings from our study urge us to address the growing microplastics issue in water and other environmental media by developing standardized testing methods to help understand the issue.

We hope our findings bring better understanding of microplastics and their dangers so we can improve our risk management and mitigation efforts.

Bringing attention to this complex pollutant that is continuously released in wastewater and other pathways demands more research. Microplastics can harm the environment and build up in our bodies through things like drinking water and the food we eat.

Un-Jung Kim is an assistant professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas at Arlington. Karthikraj Rajendiran is an assistant professor of research in the Kinesiology and Bone Muscle Research Center at UTA. Jenny Kim Nguyen is a graduate student in the Earth and Environmental Sciences at UTA. The opinions expressed in this column are the views of the authors, not of UTA.

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https://www.uta.edu/news/news-releases/2025/06/05/ut-arlington-researchers-microplastics-are-infiltrating-our-drinking-water?

Douglas Main

A newly released trove of data reveals widespread pollution of US tap water with more than 320 chemical contaminants, including industrial chemicals and farm-related pollutants.

The latest information is part of a tap water database, created by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), and incorporates information from nearly 50,000 water systems collected between 2021 and 2023.

Though few chemicals were found exceeding the federal government’s legally mandated maximum contaminant level (or MCL), almost all US water systems nation-wide contained at least one contaminant at levels that surpassed the health guidelines developed by EWG that are based on scientific research of the harms associated with the various contaminants.

“This is a wake-up call,” Tasha Stoiber, an EWG senior scientist, said in a statement. “Outdated federal regulations continue to leave millions of people at risk of exposure to harmful substances.”

Among the chemicals commonly detected were per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals, which were found in the water of at least 143 million Americans. Nitrates, found in agricultural runoff and linked to colorectal cancer and thyroid disease, were also commonly detected as well as disinfection byproducts caused by using chlorine.

Many of these disinfection byproducts — including chemicals called trihalomethanes, chloroform, haloacetic acids, and more — showed up in tens of thousands of water systems at concentrations far above what many health scientists consider safe.

Heavy metals, especially arsenic, were also frequently detected, as were some volatile organic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE). Hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen, was found in the water of 250 million people, according to EWG. This substance was infamously released in wastewater by Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Hinkley, California, in the 50s and 60s, eventually leading to a class action lawsuit initiated by Erin Brockovich.

Many of these chemicals are likely carcinogens or endocrine disruptors, according to EWG.

Legal limits for most of these substances have not been revisited in many decades, Stoiber said. For some, such as hexavalent chromium, there are no binding legal limits.

But “legal” doesn’t mean safe, the researchers behind the database stressed. A 2019 study by scientists with the group concluded that “over 100,000 lifetime cancer cases could be due to carcinogenic chemicals in tap water.” A historic exception are new limits for six PFAS chemicals, which came into force in April 2024.

The database includes information on agricultural chemicals such as the herbicide atrazine, a widespread water contaminant banned in the European Union, which is in the process of being reviewed for re-registration by the US EPA. The database revealed atrazine in concentrations above the recommended health limit in 479 systems that serve 3 million people.

The EPA has proposed a new framework for mitigating the impact of atrazine, while also raising the proposed allowable level in streams and lakes. The public can comment on the EPA’s proposal before April 4.

The database also notes whether water systems contain fluoride, which is widely added to the water to prevent cavities. Some recent studies cast doubt on the efficacy and safety of this practice. Utah just passed a bill to ban water fluoridation, which will go into force if and when the governor signs the legislation. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kenndy Jr. has previously stated he opposes the practice based on the risk it poses to children’s neurodevelopment.

There’s reason to worry that water quality regulations are not likely to improve any time soon at the federal level, advocates say, with the Trump Administration focused on reducing rules general, firing hundreds of scientists, and appointing industry-friendly people to prominent posts.

For example, Lynn Dekleva, a former lobbyist at the American Chemistry Council, an industry group that spends millions of dollars on government lobbying, was just appointed to run the EPA office in charge of approving new chemicals.

Worried by potential back-tracking on laws meant to protect water quality, California and other states have introduced legislation to set new regulations that would mirror the Biden Administration’s PFAS limits.

Water quality varies widely based on location, and generally larger water systems have more resources for removing contaminants and addressing problems when they arise.

“It’s fundamentally your right to know what’s in your drinking water,” Stoiber said. “Nobody voted to have contaminants in drinking water.”

(Featured image by Jacek Dylag via Unsplash.)

Author

• Douglas MainDouglas Main is a journalist, writer, and editor.

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New data show widespread chemical contamination of drinking water

Source:University of South Australia

Summary:Water scientists have proposed a more effective method of removing organic pesticides from drinking water, reducing the risk of contamination and potential health problems.Share:

    

FULL STORY

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Water scientists from Australia and China have proposed a more effective method of removing organic pesticides from drinking water, reducing the risk of contamination and potential health problems.

A 62% rise in global pesticide use in the past 20 years has escalated fears that many of these chemicals could end up in our waterways, causing cancer.

Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is currently used to remove organic pesticides from drinking water, but the process is costly, time consuming and not 100% effective.

University of South Australia water researcher Professor Jinming Duan has collaborated with his former PhD student, Dr Wei Li of Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology and Chinese colleagues in a series of experiments to improve the process.

The researchers found that reducing the PAC particles from the existing commercial size of 38 μm (one millionth of a metre) to 6 μm, up to 75% less powder was needed to remove six common pesticides, achieving significant water treatment savings.

At 6 μm, the PAC particles are still large enough to be filtered out after the adsorption process, ensuring they do not end up in the drinking water after toxic pesticides are removed.

Prof Duan says pollutants in our waterways are projected to increase in coming decades as the world’s population and industrial development grows.

“It’s therefore critical that we develop cost-effective treatment processes to ensure our waterways remain safe,” he says.

Their findings have been published in the journal Chemosphere.

“Pesticides cannot be removed using conventional water treatment processes such as flocculation, sedimentation and filtration. Powdered activated carbon does the job, but the existing methods have limitations. Our study has identified how we can make this process more efficient.”

Approximately 3.54 million metric tons of pesticides were applied to agricultural crops worldwide in 2021, according to the Statista Research Department.

Worryingly, despite efforts to increase their efficiency, it is estimated that only 10% of pesticides reach their target pests, with most of the chemicals remaining on plant surfaces or entering the environment, including the soil, waterways and atmosphere.

Toxicological studies have suggested that long-term exposure to low levels of pesticides — primarily through diet or drinking water — could increase the risks of cancer and other diseases.

“This is why it is important to reduce their levels to as low as feasibly possible,” Prof Duan says.

The researchers also hope to explore how super-fine activated carbon could be used to remove toxic polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) found in many consumer products, which have been linked to adverse health impacts.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/07/240711111526.htm?

Aleksander de Rosset, Rafael Torres-Mendieta, Grzegorz Pasternak, Fatma Yalcinkaya

The removal of microplastics and oil from oil-water emulsions presents significant challenges in membrane technology due to issues with low permeability, rejection rates, and membrane fouling. This study focuses on enhancing nanofibrous composite membranes to effectively separate microplastic contaminants (0.5 micrometer) and oil-water emulsions in wastewater. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymeric nanofibers were produced using a needle-free electrospinning technique and attached to a nonwoven surface through lamination. The membranes were modified with alkaline treatment, biosurfactant (BS), TiO_2, and CuO particles to prevent fouling and improve separation efficiency. The modified membranes demonstrated exceptional water permeability, with BS-modified membranes reaching above 9000 Lm^{-2} h^{-1} bar^{-1} for microplastic separation. However, BS modifications led to reduced water permeability during oil-water emulsion treatment. TiO_2 and CuO further enhanced permeability and reduced fouling. The TiO_2-modified membranes exhibited superior performance in oil-water emulsion separation, maintaining high oil rejection rates (~95%) and antifouling properties. The maximum microplastic and oil rejection rates were of 99.99% and 95.30%, respectively. This study illustrates the successful modification of membrane surfaces to improve the separation of microplastics and oil-water emulsions, offering significant advancements in wastewater treatment technology.

Subjects:	Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
Cite as:	arXiv:2501.09529 [physics.chem-ph]
	(or arXiv:2501.09529v1 [physics.chem-ph] for this version)
	https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2501.09529Focus to learn more
Journal reference:	Process Saf. Environ. Prot., 194, 2025, 997-1009
Related DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2024.12.059Focus to learn more

Submission history

From: Aleksander De Rosset [view email]
[v1] Thu, 16 Jan 2025 13:26:33 UTC (1,074 KB)

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https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.09529?

• Charles Balkenbusch, 
• Judith Glienke, 
• Yuhao Wu, 
• Keenan Munno, 
• Michael Jung, 
• Husein Almuhtaram & 
• Robert C. Andrews 

npj Clean Water volume 8, Article number: 103 (2025) Cite this article

• 1606 Accesses
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Abstract

The performance of conventional and advanced drinking water treatment processes for the removal of microplastics is poorly understood due to the use of a wide range of methods for sample collection, isolation, and analysis that make direct comparison among studies challenging. In this study, microplastic (>2 µm) removal across ten drinking water treatment facilities, as well as their presence in source waters and distribution systems, was characterized. Municipal drinking water treatment facilities achieved >97.5% removal, primarily due to chemically assisted granular media filtration or ultrafiltration. In untreated source waters, concentrations ranged from 1193 ± 64 to 7185 ± 64 particles/L, with polypropylene, polyethylene, polyamide, and plastic copolymers representing the most common polymer types identified. These findings provide insight regarding microplastic exposure via drinking water, as well as treatment process performance for their removal which may be used to inform the development and implementation of future regulations and/or guidelines.

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https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-025-00531-w?

New study links microplastics to chronic health issues as industry spokespeople cite limitations

 By Angelica Stabile Fox News

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New study warns of plastics crisis threatening Americans’ health

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Microplastics are a known threat to overall health — and eating and drinking from plastic containers, like water bottles, could be a great offender, researchers suggest.

A new study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials analyzed 141 existing scientific papers on microplastics and nanoplastics from single-use plastic water bottles to gauge how much plastic people may be ingesting.

Researchers at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, discovered that the average person consumes 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles per year, according to a university press release.

PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE LEFT IN A HOT CAR? THINK TWICE BEFORE SIPPING FROM IT

Individuals who drink bottled water regularly ingest up to 90,000 more particles each year than those who drink mainly tap water, the study found.

The researchers noted that nanoplastics are especially concerning, as they’re invisible to the naked eye and smaller than 1 micron. They can also enter human cells, cross biological barriers and have the potential to reach organs and tissues, they cautioned.

“People need to understand that the issue is not acute toxicity – it is chronic toxicity,” said the lead researcher of the study. (iStock)

Nanoplastics and microplastics have both been linked to serious and long-term health complications, including respiratory and reproductive issues, brain and nerve toxicity, and cancer risks.

These particles entering the bloodstream and vital organs can also cause chronic inflammation, oxidative stress on cells and hormonal disruption, according to the release.

BOTTLED WATER FOUND TO CONTAIN TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ‘TINY PLASTIC PARTICLES’ IN NEW STUDY

These tiny plastic pieces emerge as bottles are made, stored, transported and broken down, and shed particles when they’re manipulated and exposed to sunlight or temperature changes, experts cautioned.

“The long-term effects remain poorly understood due to a lack of widespread testing and standardized methods of measurement and detection,” the release stated.

Exposure to sunlight and temperature changes can cause plastic particles to shed, experts warn. (iStock)

Lead study author Sarah Sajedi, an environmental management expert and Ph.D. candidate at Concordia University, reacted to these findings with “deep concern and urgency,” noting that 90,000 additional annual particles is “staggering.”

“What’s most surprising is how understudied this issue remains, despite its widespread impact,” he told Fox News Digital. “My review reveals not only the chronic health risks including inflammation, hormonal disruption, neurotoxicity and cancer, but also the lack of standardized testing methods, which hinders accurate risk assessment and regulatory action.”

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Sajedi recommends opting for reusable water bottles made from stainless steel or glass, drinking filtered tap water when possible, keeping plastic bottles out of heat or sunlight, and avoiding squeezing or repeatedly opening and closing these bottles.

“Drinking water from plastic bottles is fine in an emergency, but it is not something that should be used in daily life,” she added in a press release. “People need to understand that the issue is not acute toxicity — it is chronic toxicity.”

Individuals who drink bottled water regularly ingest up to 90,000 more particles each year than those who drink mainly tap water. (iStock)

The analysis did have some limitations, the researchers noted. The numerous studies used various testing methods, which means results are not always comparable. Some were also lacking in data on the size and composition of these particles.

The researchers called for further standardized testing and stronger policies to control the contamination of plastics in bottled water.

The review was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Concordia University.

Industry reps speak out

In January 2025, the International Bottled Water Association issued a statement related to the risk associated with microplastics and nanoplastics, pointing out that bottled water is among thousands of food and beverage products that are packaged in plastic containers.

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“The bottled water industry is committed to providing consumers with the safest and highest quality healthy hydration products,” says the statement on IBWA’s website. “Micro- and nanoplastics are found everywhere in the environment — in the air, soil and water.”

“Because there are no certified testing methods and no scientific consensus on the potential health impacts of micro- and nanoplastics, the industry supports conducting additional research on this important issue.”

The FDA issued a statement on the topic in 2024, stating that “current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that levels of microplastics or nanoplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health.” (iStock)

In 2024, the FDA issued a statement on the topic, stating that “current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that levels of microplastics or nanoplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health.”

The agency noted that it will continue to monitor research on microplastics and nanoplastics in foods and that it is “taking steps to advance the science and ensure our food remains safe.”

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In a 2022 report from the World Health Organization, the agency stated that “no adverse health effects could be drawn from dietary exposure to micro- and nanoplastic particles less than 10 microns due to minimal scientific research.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Concordia University researchers and to multiple bottled water companies for comment.

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https://www.foxnews.com/health/hidden-reason-scientists-say-bottled-water-may-not-cleaner-choice?