Print Email Facebook Twitter Assessing the Mass Concentration of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants by Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Title Assessing the Mass Concentration of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants by Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Author Xu, Yanghui (TU Delft Water Management; TU Delft Sanitary Engineering; Chinese Academy of Sciences) Ou, Q. (TU Delft Water Management; TU Delft Sanitary Engineering; Chinese Academy of Sciences) Wang, Xintu (Chinese Academy of Sciences; Guilin University of Technology) Hou, Feng (China Water Environmental Group Limited) Li, Peng (China Water Environmental Group Limited) van der Hoek, J.P. (TU Delft Water Management; TU Delft Sanitary Engineering; Waternet) Liu, G. (TU Delft Water Management; TU Delft Space Systems Egineering; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) Department Water Management Date 2023 Abstract The level of microplastics (MPs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has been well evaluated by the particle number, while the mass concentration of MPs and especially nanoplastics (NPs) remains unclear. In this study, pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to determine the mass concentrations of MPs and NPs with different size ranges (0.01-1, 1-50, and 50-1000 μm) across the whole treatment schemes in two WWTPs. The mass concentrations of total MPs and NPs decreased from 26.23 and 11.28 μg/L in the influent to 1.75 and 0.71 μg/L in the effluent, with removal rates of 93.3 and 93.7% in plants A and B, respectively. The proportions of NPs (0.01-1 μm) were 12.0-17.9 and 5.6-19.5% in plants A and B, respectively, and the removal efficiency of NPs was lower than that of MPs (>1 μm). Based on annual wastewater effluent discharge, it is estimated that about 0.321 and 0.052 tons of MPs and NPs were released into the river each year. Overall, this study investigated the mass concentration of MPs and NPs with a wide size range of 0.01-1000 μm in wastewater, which provided valuable information regarding the pollution level and distribution characteristics of MPs, especially NPs, in WWTPs. Subject mass concentrationmicroplasticsnanoplasticsPy-GC/MSWWTPs To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7318bf60-e5c7-47d8-8c3d-14c4685638e5 DOI https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c07810 ISSN 0013-936X Source Environmental Science & Technology (Washington), 57 (8), 3114-3123 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2023 Yanghui Xu, Q. Ou, Xintu Wang, Feng Hou, Peng Li, J.P. van der Hoek, G. Liu Files PDF 2023_Nanoplastics_Micropl ... TP_EST.pdf 2.46 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:7318bf60-e5c7-47d8-8c3d-14c4685638e5/datastream/OBJ/view