It is well known that surface waters around the globe are contaminated with small pieces of synthetic polymeric materials routinely known as microplastics, which also function as a source or vector of numerous chemical contaminants. Research shows that synthetic microfibers, which consist of polymers such as polyester, polypropylene and nylon, are the most prominent type of microplastic pollution.These mostly nonpolar materials effectively adsorb hydrophobic water contaminants; they are ingested by aquatic and land-based organisms and continue to accumulate in the natural environment. Since clothes, blankets, and cleaning items are made from these materials and are washed regularly, enormous amounts of synthetic microfibers are released into the environment from laundry water discharge. In order to identify the extent, transport and fate of synthetic microfibers in a Northwest Indiana Lake Michigan watershed, the quantification of these particulates has been added to the traditional water quality parameters as part of a broader study of the watershed. The sampling locations along the Lake Michigan tributary are upstream and downstream from two local wastewater treatment plants and mostly surrounded by residential, light agricultural and industrial land. Standard mixtures of microfibers from common fabrics were created and analyzed alongside the natural samples, as well as comparative samples taken directly from laundry water discharge and the local wastewater treatment plant. To comprehensively and quantitatively determine the load of microfibers in the local watershed, samples were collected from the water, sediment, and air, and then processed and analyzed in the laboratory. The number of synthetic microfibers in the water was determined using processed total suspended solids (TSS) filters from 500 mL samples. Sediment samples were collected from the creek banks and were subjected to density separations, followed by filtration and digestion using Fenton chemistry. The consistent presence of microfibers in the creek and lake water samples substantiate the need to routinely monitor their presence in surface waters. Laboratory experiments on known fabrics show variability in the integrity of the fabric dyes in the oxidative processing of samples. Higher loads of synthetic microfibers were found in the downstream sediment samples, indicating the significant role of sediments; the data also point to a complex distribution of these tiny polymeric pollutants.

Synthetic microfibers: Incorporating particulate pollutants into water quality monitoring

2019 Fall National Meeting

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