AI Article Synopsis
- Microplastics in aquatic environments pose risks to ecosystems and human health, prompting this study on the behavior of polystyrene microplastics in various sand types.
- Through soil-column experiments, the research evaluated factors like ionic strength, breakthrough curves, and first-order attachment coefficients to understand microplastic retention.
- Results indicated that retention increased with the type of iron oxide coating on the sand, suggesting iron-rich soils could help reduce microplastic transport in aquatic systems.
Article Abstract
The presence of microplastics in aquatic environments threatens the ecological system and human health. This study investigates the transport and retention of polystyrene microplastics (PSMPs) in clean sand, and hematite-, goethite-, and magnetite-coated iron oxide - sands as a function of size ratio and ionic strength. The breakthrough curves (BTCs), retention profiles, and hydraulic pressure were measured through soil-column experiments, and the retention of PSMPs was assessed from the observed BTCs, RPs and first-order attachment coefficients. In addition, the maximum attachment capacity was evaluated to assess the long-term retention of PSMPs. Experimental data showed that the retention of PSMPs increased in the order of goethite-, hematite-, and magnetite-coated sands in all size ratios, which is consistent with the order of attraction energy calculated by extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory. The findings demonstrated the feasibility of mitigating the transport of microplastic particles using naturally abundant iron-rich soils.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2024.122856 | DOI Listing |
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