(180c) Microplastics As Vectors for the Facilitated Diffusion of Other Contaminants in Water Treatment Processes

Microplastics are small pieces of plastic debris, usually defined by a diameter of 1 μm to 5 mm. They are emerging pollutants that have been shown to be persistent in water due to their resistance to environmental degradation. While most wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) employ common methods that remove a significant portion of microplastics from the plant influent, these facilities still introduce microplastics into aquatic environments. Microplastics have been associated with adverse human health impacts through their ingestion and, especially, inhalation. However, the question of microplastics behaving as a vector in the facilitated diffusion of other potentially more harmful pollutants has not been thoroughly explored. For example, microplastics have charge sites that other pollutants can bond to and detach from during phases of a water treatment process. Microplastics carried with these contaminants can multiply health impacts for humans and other organisms. Better understanding of the dynamics of this facilitated transport will lead to insights on how to remove microplastics from water. This work will review the literature related to facilitated transport via microplastics in water treatment processes and seek to identify gaps in current research efforts that could be developed into a future research project.