Bioretention cells remove microplastics from urban stormwater

被引：0

作者：

Smyth, Kelsey ^{[1
]}

Drake, Jennifer ^{[1
]}

Li, Yourong ^{[2
]}

Rochman, Chelsea ^{[3
]}

Van Seters, Tim ^{[4
]}

Passeport, Elodie ^{[1
,2
]}

机构：

[1] Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, 35St. George Street, Toronto,ON,M5S 1A4, Canada

[2] Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto,ON,M5S 3E5, Canada

[3] Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto,ON,M5S 3B2, Canada

[4] Toronto Region Conservation Authority, 101 Exchange Ave., Concord,ON, Canada

来源：

Water Research | 2021年 / 191卷

基金：

加拿大自然科学与工程研究理事会;

关键词：

Meteorological problems - Runoff - Sewage - Storm sewers - Storms;

D O I：

暂无

中图分类号：

学科分类号：

摘要：

Microplastic pathways in the environment must be better understood to help select appropriate mitigation strategies. In this 2-year long field study, microplastics were characterized and quantified in urban stormwater runoff and through a bioretention cell, a type of low impact development infrastructure. Concentrations of microparticles ranged from below the detection limit to 704 microparticles/L and the dominant morphology found were fibers. High rainfall intensity and longer antecedent dry days resulted in larger microparticle concentrations. In addition, atmospheric deposition was a source of microplastics to urban runoff. Overall, these results demonstrate that urban stormwater runoff is a concentrated source of microplastics whose concentrations depend on specific climate variables. The bioretention cell showed an 84% decrease in median microparticle concentration in the 106–5,000 µm range, and thus is effective in filtering out microplastics and preventing their spread to downstream environments. Altogether, these results highlight the large contribution of urban stormwater runoff to microplastic contamination in larger aquatic systems and demonstrate the potential for current infiltration-based low impact development practices to limit the spread of microplastic contamination downstream. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

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