Microplastics As Contaminants In Water And Wastewater Streams Under Different Climate Condition

Abstract

Industrial developments in recent years benefit the prosperity of human lives, whereas there are also their downsides. One of these downsides is the non-degradable pollutants that have started to exist and posing risks to the environment. Microplastics (MPs) being one of these pollutants, have become a worldwide environmental fear because of their global presence.  Microplastics are delivered into the environment directly from daily uses of plastic substances, degradation of plastics, industries, and wastewater treatment plants. This study focused on the presence of the Microplastics in freshwater bodies and drain streams. During the study, the analytical methods was tested to ensure the quality of the research, and afterwards applied to study the presence of Microplastics in water and wastewater streams throughout different times of the year at variable locations along the streams to understand the seasonal effects, flow conditions, and ambient aquatic environment on the presence of the Microplastics. It was found that the presence of Microplastics can be affected by the climate conditions as one of the streams has shown a significant change in the results by the change in the season when the samples were collected.