Is the petrochemical industry an overlooked critical source of environmental microplastics?

Liyan Deng; Hongbo Xi; Chunli Wan; Liya Fu; Yue Wang; Changyong Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131199

Is the petrochemical industry an overlooked critical source of environmental microplastics?

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Jun 5:451:131199. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131199. Epub 2023 Mar 13.

Authors

Liyan Deng¹, Hongbo Xi², Chunli Wan³, Liya Fu², Yue Wang², Changyong Wu⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China; College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Research Center of Environmental Pollution Control Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China; Research Center of Environmental Pollution Control Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
³ Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China; Research Center of Environmental Pollution Control Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China. Electronic address: changyongwu@126.com.

PMID: 36933504
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131199

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the environment and have been verified to be harmful to organisms. The petrochemical industry is a possible contributor, for it is the primary plastic producer but is not focused on. In this background, MPs in the influent, effluent, activated sludge, and expatriate sludge of a typical petrochemical wastewater treatment plant (PWWTP) were identified by the laser infrared imaging spectrometer (LDIR). It revealed that the abundances of MPs in the influent and effluent were as high as 10310 and 1280 items/L with a removal efficiency of 87.6%. The removed MPs accumulated in the sludge, and the MP abundances in activated and expatriate sludge reached 4328 and 10767 items/g, respectively. It is estimated that 1440,000 billion MPs might be released into the environment by the petrochemical industry in 2021 globally. For the specific PWWTP, 25 types of MPs were identified, among which Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE), and Silicone resin were dominant. All of the detected MPs were smaller than 350 µm, and those smaller than 100 µm prevailed. As for the shape, the fragment was dominant. The study confirmed the critical status of the petrochemical industry in releasing MPs for the first time.

Keywords: Laser infrared imaging spectrometer (LDIR); Microplastic; Petrochemical industry; Source.