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An Overview of Physical, Chemical and Biological Methods for Removal of Microplastics

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Microplastics Pollution in Aquatic Media

Abstract

Globally, the problem of microplastics (MPs) pose to water resources is current concern to scientists. Sources of MPs to water resources include wastewater, atmospheric deposition, surface runoff and leaching. Many marine animals suffer from ingesting high amounts of MPs accumulating in the gut and cause obstruction and inflammation in their organs. Humans are equally exposed from the use of surface water and drinking water or ground water. In view of these problems and in a bid to mitigate potential risks from the release of MPs to receiving waters, stringent water quality requirements for effluents are required and scientists are now developing methods or techniques to remove MPs from water resources. We reviewed techniques developed or modified for MPs removal in water and wastewater such as Dynamic Membranes Technology (DM), membrane bioreactors (MBR), reverse osmosis (RO), dissolved air flotation (DAF), rapid sand filtration (RSF), disc filter (DF), inorganic–organic hybrid silica gels, metal based-coagulation and electrocoagulation. The principles of these techniques were discussed as well as the advantages and disadvantages. Conclusions were drawn and future areas of research were recommended.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Group Research in Analytical Chemistry, Environment and Climate Change (GRACE&CC), Department of Chemistry, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

    Christian Ebere Enyoh & Andrew Wirnkor Verla

  2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Oluniyi O. Fadare

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Chimborazo, Riobamba, Ecuador

    Marcel Paredes

  4. Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama, Japan

    Qingyue Wang & Tanzin Chowdhury

  5. Department of Soil Science, Universität Kassel, Kassel, Germany

    Leila Shafea

Authors
  1. Christian Ebere Enyoh
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  2. Oluniyi O. Fadare
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  3. Marcel Paredes
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  4. Qingyue Wang
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  5. Andrew Wirnkor Verla
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  6. Leila Shafea
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  7. Tanzin Chowdhury
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Mika Sillanpää

  2. Islamic Azad University of Shahre Rey Branch, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Khadir

  3. SgT Group and API, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

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Enyoh, C.E. et al. (2022). An Overview of Physical, Chemical and Biological Methods for Removal of Microplastics. In: Sillanpää, M., Khadir, A., Muthu, S.S. (eds) Microplastics Pollution in Aquatic Media. Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8440-1_12

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