RT journal article
T1 Annual estimates of microplastics in municipal sludge treatment plants in southern Spain
A1 Sakali, Ayda
A1 Coello Oviedo, María Dolores
A1 Brigui, Jamal
A1 Albendín García, María Gemma
A1 Arellano López, Juana María
A1 Quiroga Alonso, José María
A1 Rodríguez Barroso, María del Rocío
A2 Anatomía PatológicaBiología Celular, Histología, Historia de la Ciencia, Medicina Legal y Forense y Toxicología
A2 Tecnologías del Medio Ambiente
K1 Microplastic pollution
K1 Southern Spain
K1 Sewage sludge
K1 Spectroscopic analysis
K1 Treatment
K1 Thermoplastic polymers
AB Billions of microplastics (MPs) eliminated during wastewater treatment are prone to be found in sewage sludge, which would lead to dynamic redistribution of these particles in agricultural soils and consequently to the uptake and remobilization of various pollutants. As far as we know, there is limited information on MPs in sludge from Spanish wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In this study, their abundance during primary and secondary treatments in four WWTPs was investigated in two samplings, in a southern nationwide area. Combining shape, size, and chemical composition, we discussed the reasons for the existence of MP sizes (> 100 μm), as well as an estimate of the annual emission of each polymer from land application. MP concentrations in sludge samples ranged from 96 to 769 particles/g dry sludge, with an average of 392.4 ± 72.01 particles/g dry sludge. Microparticles in the shape of fibres are the most common type ranged between 100 and 355 μm. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) showed that most MPs belonged to thermoplastics, ethylene derivatives, polyethylene terephthalate and polyamide. Based on the total sewage sludge production in Spain, the average amount of MPs derived from sewage sludge that could enter the soil was estimated to be 2.80 × 1014 MPs/year. The results confirmed that dry sludge is one of the potential sources of MPs contamination in the terrestrial environment.
PB Elsevier
SN 2214-7144
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/30231
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/30231
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 07-nov-2026