Land use, stratified wastewater and sediment, and microplastic attribute factors jointly influence the microplastic prevalence and bacterial colonization patterns in sewer habitats.

Sci Total Environ

Science and Technology Innovation Center for Eco-environmental Protection, Shanghai Investigation, Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200050, China; YANGTZE Eco-Environment Engineering Research Center, Three Gorges Corporation, Beijing 100038, China.

Published: March 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • Microplastics in municipal sewer systems can carry and grow bacteria, influencing environmental health in urban waters due to high levels found in these areas.
  • A comprehensive study in Shanghai investigated how microplastic presence and bacterial colonization varied across different sewer environments and land uses, finding notable differences between industrial and residential sectors.
  • The research revealed that industrial sewers have larger, more diverse microplastics, while residential areas primarily feature simpler forms, and that sewer characteristics significantly affect how bacteria inhabit microplastics and their potential health risks.

Article Abstract

The capacity of microplastics to harbor and propagate bacteria has been the focus of attention over the last decade. Such microplastic-supported bacterial colonization behavior in the municipal sewer system could be a critical ecological link influencing the biogeochemical activities and risks in receiving waters in urban areas, given the alarming microplastic loads discharged there. This study conducted a large-scale survey covering a wide range of residential and industrial catchments in Shanghai, China. We aimed to assess the microplastic prevalence and bacterial colonization patterns in different sewer habitats and to explore the role of land use, stratified wastewater and sediment, and microplastic attributes in shaping the patterns. We found that the sewer system formed a temporal but pronounced microplastic pool, with land use playing a significant role in the variability of microplastic prevalence. Industrial sewers contained a high abundance of microplastics with large particle sizes, diverse polymer compositions, and shapes. However, while there was a spatial discrepancy between urban and suburban areas in the abundance of microplastics in residential sewers, their predominant polymer and shape types were simple, i.e., polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and fibers. Sewer habitat characteristics, particularly the stratified wastewater and sediment determined microbial colonization patterns. The latter acted as a long-term sink for microplastics and supported the high growth of colonizers. In contrast, the wastewater plastisphere presented novel niches, hosting communities with a marked proportion of unique bacterial genera after colonization. Besides, statistics showed a highly positive and dense co-occurrence network of the plastisphere communities, especially those from the industrial sewer sediment, with enhanced metabolic activity, cellular processes and systems, and increased human pathogenic potential. Findings indicated a coarse and uncertain effect of the selective pressure of microplastic attributes on plastisphere community structure differentiation.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170653DOI Listing

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