Microplastics, plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, are an emerging contaminant of concern due to their long-term persistence in the environment and negative impacts on many organisms. Floating treatment wetlands, used to provide nitrate treatment to wastewater or runoff from agricultural and urban sources, may be impacted by microplastics as these sources can contain high concentrations of microplastics. This study employed the use of anaerobic microcosms to measure the change in nitrate when 10 mg/L and 100 mg/L of 1-4 um diameter polyethylene microspheres were suspended with root samples from floating treatment wetlands. Preliminary results from this study indicate a non-significant change in the rate of nitrate removal with the addition of polyethylene microplastics. However, further analyses on plastic resin type, size range, and concentration along with additional methods of microbial analysis should be conducted in order to better understand how microplastic resin characteristics may influence microbial communities and nitrogen cycling processes.

Influence of microplastics on denitrification in floating wetland environments

ACS Fall 2021

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