Franco A.A. , Iglesias-Arroyo D. , EGEA-CORBACHO LOPERA, ÁGATA, Martín-García A.P. , Quiroga J.M. , Coello M.D.
No
Sci. Total Environ.
Article
Científica
8.2
1.998
20/11/2023
001051666200001
2-s2.0-85166467988
The tourism is one of the most important sources of the economy in the Bay of Cadiz. Specifically, the municipality of Chiclana de la Frontera, with a population lower than 90,000 citizens, located in the southeast of Spain. During the summer season the population duplicates leading to an increment in flow at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). These facilities have been reported as a source of microplastics (MPs) into marine ecosystems, therefore the aim of the present study is to investigate if the tourism affects the presence, discharge and in the receiving environment. Samples were taken at the influent and effluent of the municipal WWTPs (one located at the urban area and other located at resort area) during 2021 (including low and high season). MPs were collected and extracted from wastewater matrixes following the method recommended by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and UTS treatment to reduce organic matter and cellulose, respectively. The analysis of the samples was performed according to their abundance, shape, size, and type of polymer, along with the removal rates of MPs at WWTPs. The results showed heterogeneous MPs abundance ranging from 1246.4 to 345.7 MPs/L and 72.9 to 4.2, in the influent and effluent, respectively, increasing the presence of MPs at resort WWTP during high season. Fibers were the predominant shape within all the samples. A total of 17 polymers were identified, by ATR-FTIR, where Acrylates, PE and PA were the largest polymers found. Despite the high MPs retention performance of the WWTPs analyzed (84.1–99.3 %), a combined contribution of approximately 1.4 × 107–5.9 × 108 MPs/d to the aquatic environment was estimated. Finally, these results indicate that the increase of MPs in the wastewater at WWTP-B was related with the population increase as a consequence of summer tourism. © 2023 The Authors
Ecosystems; Effluents; Reclamation; Sewage pumping plants; Wastewater treatment; Water treatment plants; Coastal municipalities; FTIR; Microplastics; Municipal wastewater treatment plants; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Seasonality; Summer season; Urban areas; Waste water treatment plants; Wastewater matrices; Microplastic; aquatic environment; cellulose; coastal zone; FTIR spectroscopy; marine ecosystem; municipal solid waste; organic matter; plastic waste; pollutant; polymer; seasonality; tourism management; wastewater; wastewater treatment plant; Cities; Ecosystems; Effluents; Plants; Polymers; Processing; Reclamation; Samples; Andalucia; Cadiz [Andalucia]; Spain