Abstract
Little were certain about how wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) affected the Japanese riverine microplastic contamination. This study explored the influences of WWTPs on microplastic pollution, assessed ecological risks, and looked at the sources-to-sinks phenomenon (WWTPs-to-rivers-to-marine) in riverine settings in Japan’s Yamaguchi prefecture. Fifty surface water samples from the five selected rivers (Koya, Saba, Shimaji, and Fushino, Nishiki) and 11 effluent samples from WWTPs in the rivers’ catchment were examined. Microplastics were analyzed using filtration, wet-peroxidation, density-separation, and attenuated reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy techniques. Results suggested that the less populated and rural river (Nishiki) was less contaminated compared to the WWTPs and urban areas affected rivers (Koya, Saba, Shimaji, and Fushino). The WWTPs increased microplastic abundance twofold in the downstream regions compared to upstream stations. Microplastic characterization showed that the smaller microplastics < 500 µm, fiber-shaped, transparent, blue, and green color particles were major. Polymer identification demonstrated that the polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate were prevalent both for the rivers and WWTP effluents. There was a significant emission of microplastics from WWTPs to rivers (4.671 billion pieces per day; 71.8 kg per day) and rivers to Seto Inland Sea (0.13/billion pieces per day/km2; 7.1 kg per day). The per capita MP emissions to the rivers via WWTPs ranged from 0.02 to 6.49 g per day, which was approximately 2% of per capita single-use plastic wastes in Japan. An assessment of ecological risks showed that the WWTPs posed high ecological risks to rivers, and built up the pollution hotspots to their downstream areas by releasing higher number of microplastics and highly toxic polymers. Overall, the WWTPs influenced the rivers through both abundances and characteristics (shapes-size-color-polymers), increased the complexity of microplastic compositions as well as elevated ecological risks in the rivers. This study contributed to bridging the knowledge gaps about microplastic sources-to-sinks, ecological risks, and pollution management in Japan and beyond.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article. If required, data will be provided separately upon request.
References
Alam FC, Sembiring E, Muntalif BS, Suendo V (2019) Microplastic distribution in surface water and sediment river around slum and industrial area (case study: Ciwalengke River, Majalaya district, Indonesia). Chemosphere 224:637–645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.02.188
Allen S, Allen D, Phoenix VR, Roux GL, Jiménez PD, Simonneau A, Binet S, Galop D (2019) Atmospheric transport and deposition of microplastics in a remote mountain catchment. Nat Geosci 12:339–344. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0335-5
Arthur C, Baker J, Bamford H (2009) Proceedings of the International Research Workshop on the Occurrence, Effects and Fate of Microplastic Marine Debris. Sept 9–11, 2008, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS-OR&R30. https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/2509/noaa_2509_DS1.pdf
Auta HS, Emenike CU, Fauziah S (2017) Distribution and importance of microplastics in the marine environment: a review of the sources, fate, effects, and potential solutions. Environ Int 102:165–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2017.02.013
Baldwin AK, Corsi SR, Mason SA (2016) Plastic debris in 29 great lakes tributaries: relations to watershed attributes and hydrology. Environ Sci Technol 50(19):10377–10385. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b02917
Barnes DKA, Galgani F, Thompson RC, Barlaz M (2009) Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments. Philos Trans R Soc B: Biol Sci 364:1985–1998. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0205
Barrows APW, Michelle ANC, Bergera L, Susan DS (2017) Grab vs. neuston tow net: a microplastic sampling performance comparison and possible advances in the field. Anal Methods 9:1446–1453. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6AY02387H
Barrows APW, Christiansen KS, Bode ET, Hoellein TJ (2018) A watershed-scale, citizen science approach to quantifying microplastic concentration in a mixed land-use river. Water Res 147:382–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.10.013
Blettler MCM, Abrial E, Khan FR, Sivri N, Espinola LA (2018) Freshwater plastic pollution: recognizing research biases and identifying knowledge gaps. Water Res 143:416–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.06.015
Boucher J, Friot D (2017) Primary microplastics in the oceans: a global evaluation of sources. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, p 43
Bowley J, Baker-Austin C, Porter A, Hartnell R, Lewis C (2021) Oceanic hitchhikers - assessing pathogen risks from marine microplastic. Trends Microbiol 29:107–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2020.06.011
Browne MA, Crump P, Niven SJ, Teuten E, Tonkin A, Galloway T, Thompson R (2011) Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines worldwide: sources and sinks. Environ Sci Technol 45(21):9175–9179. https://doi.org/10.1021/es201811s
Carr SA, Liu J, Tesoro AG (2016) Transport and fate of microplastic particles in wastewater treatment plants. Water Res 91:174–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.01.002
Conley K, Clum A, Deepe J, Lane H, Beckingham B (2019) Wastewater treatment plants as a source of microplastics to an urban estuary: removal efficiencies and loading per capita over one year. Water Res X 3:100030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wroa.2019.100030
Coppock RL, Cole M, Lindeque PK, Queiros AM, Galloway TS (2017) A small-scale portable method for extracting microplastics from marine sediments. Environ Pollut 230:829–837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.07.017
Ding L, Mao RF, Guo X, Yang X, Zhang Q, Yang C (2019) Microplastics in surface waters and sediments of the Wei River, in the northwest of China. Sci Total Environ 667:427–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.332
Dris R, Imhof H, Sanchez W, Gasperi J, Galgani F, Tassin B, Laforsch C (2015a) Beyond the ocean: contamination of freshwater ecosystems with (micro-)plastic particles. Environ Chem 12:5. https://doi.org/10.1071/EN14172
Dris R, Gasperi J, Vincent R, Saad M, Renault N, Tassin B (2015b) Microplastic contamination in an urban area: a case study in Greater Paris. Environ Chem 12(5):539–550. https://doi.org/10.1071/EN14172
Duan Z, Zhao S, Zhao L, Duan X, Xie S, Zhang H, Liu Y, Peng Y, Liu C, Wang L (2020) Microplastics in Yellow River Delta wetland: occurrence, characteristics, human influences, and marker. Environ Pollut 258 (C). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113232
Dubaish F, Liebezeit G (2013) Suspended microplastics and black carbon particles in the Jade System, Southern North Sea. Water Air Soil Pollut 224:1352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-012-1352-9
Eerkes-Medrano D, Thompson RC, Aldridge DC (2015) Microplastics in freshwater systems: a review of the emerging threats identification of knowledge gaps and prioritisation of research needs. Water Res 75:63–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.02.012
Engler RE (2012) The complex interaction between marine debris and toxic chemicals in the ocean. Environ Sci Technol 46(22):12302–12315. https://doi.org/10.1021/es3027105
Eo S, Hong SH, Song YK, Han GM, Shim WJ (2019) Spatiotemporal distribution and annual load of microplastics in the Nakdong River South Korea. Water Res 160:228–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.05.053
Estahbanati S, Fahrenfeld NL (2016) Influence of wastewater treatment plant discharges on microplastic concentrations in surface water. Chemosphere 162:277–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.07.083
Faure F, Demars C, Wieser O, Kunz M, De Alencastro LF (2015) Plastic pollution in Swiss surface waters: nature and concentrations interaction with pollutants. Environ Chem 12(5):582–591. https://doi.org/10.1071/EN14218
Gago J, Filgueiras A, Pedrotti ML, Caetano M, Frias J (2019) Standardised protocol for monitoring microplastics in seawater (Doctoral dissertation, Deliverable 4.1. BASEMAN JPI Ocean project). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.14181.45282
Green DS, Kregting L, Boots B, Blockley DJ, Brickle P, da Costa M, Crowley Q (2018) A comparison of sampling methods for seawater microplastics and a first report of the microplastic litter in coastal waters of Ascension and Falkland Islands. Mar Pollut Bull 137:695–701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.11.004
Hakanson LJ (1980) An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control. A sedimentological approach. Water Res 14(8):975–1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(80)90143-8
Han M, Niu X, Tang M, Zhang B, Wang G, Yue W, Kong X, Zhu J (2020) Distribution of microplastics in surface water of the lower Yellow River near estuary. Sci Total Environ 707:135601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135601
Hartline N, Bruce N, Karba S, Ruff E, Sonar S, Holden P (2016) Microfiber masses recovered from conventional machine washing of new or aged garments. Environ Sci Technol 50(21):11532–11538. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b03045
Hernandez E, Nowack B, Mitrano DM (2017) Polyester textiles as a source of microplastics from households: a mechanistic study to understand microfiber release during washing. Environ Sci Technol 51(12):7036–7046. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b01750
Horton AA, Walton A, Spurgeon DJ, Lahive E, Svendsen C (2017) Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities. Sci Total Environ 586:127–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.190
Isobe A, Uchida K, Tokai T, Iwasaki S (2015) East Asian seas: a hot spot of pelagic microplastics. Mar Pollut Bull 101(2):618–623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.10.042
Jambeck JR, Geyer R, Wilcox C, Siegler TR, Perryman M, Andrady A, Narayan R, Law KL (2015) Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science 347:768–771. https://doi.org/10.1126/science1260352
Jung JW, Park JW, Eo S, Choi J, Song YK, Cho Y, Hong SH, Shim WJ (2021) Ecological risk assessment of microplastics in coastal shelf and deep-sea waters with a consideration of environmentally relevant size and shape. Environ Pollut 270:116217. https://doi.org/10.1016/jenvpol2020116217
Kabir AHME, Sekine M, Imai T, Yamamoto K, Kanno A, Higuchi T (2021) Assessing small-scale freshwater microplastics pollution land-use source-to-sink conduits and pollution risks: perspectives from Japanese rivers polluted with microplastics. Sci Total Environ 768:144655. https://doi.org/10.1016/jscitotenv2020144655
Kabir AHME, Sekine M, Imai T, Yamamoto K, Kanno A, Higuchi T (2022) Microplastics in the sediments of small-scale Japanese rivers: abundance and distribution characterization sources-to-sink and ecological risks. Sci Total Environ 812:152590. https://doi.org/10.1016/jscitotenv2021152590
Kameda Y, Yamada N, Fujita E (2021) Source- and polymer-specific size distributions of fine microplastics in surface water in an urban river. Environ Pollut 284:117516. https://doi.org/10.1016/jenvpol2021117516
Kataoka T, Nihei Y, Kudou K, Hinata H (2019) Assessment of the sources and inflow processes of microplastics in the river environments of Japan. Environ Pollut 244:958–965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.111
Kramm J, Völker C (2018) Understanding the risks of microplastics: a social-ecological risk perspective. In: Wagner M, Lambert S (eds) Freshwater Microplastics The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 58. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61615-5_11
Lahens L, Strady E, Kieu-Le TC, Dris R, Boukerma K, Rinnert E, Gasperi J, Tassin B (2018) Macroplastic and microplastic contamination assessment of a tropical river (Saigon River, Vietnam) transversed by a developing megacity. Environ Pollut 236:661–671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.02.005
Lebreton LCM, van der Zwet J, Damsteeg JW, Slat B, Andrady A, Reisser J (2017) River plastic emissions to the world’s oceans. Nat Commun 8:15611. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15611
Lechner A, Keckeis H, Lumesberger-Loisl F, Zens B, Krusch R, Tritthart M, Glas M, Schludermann E (2014) The Danube so colourful: a potpourri of plastic litter outnumbers fish larvae in Europe’s second largest river. Environ Pollut 188:177–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/jenvpol201402006
Leslie H, Brandsma S, van Velzen MJM, Vethaak A (2017) Microplastics en route: Field measurements in the Dutch river delta and Amsterdam canals, wastewater treatment plants, North Sea sediments and biota. Environ Int 101:133–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2017.01.018
Li J, Liu H, Chen JP (2018) Microplastics in freshwater systems: a review on occurrence environmental effects and methods for microplastics detection. Water Res 137:362–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/jwatres201712056
Lithner D, Larsson A, Dave G (2011) Environmental and health hazard ranking and assessment of plastic polymers based on chemical composition. Sci Total Environ 409:3309–3324. https://doi.org/10.1016/jscitotenv201104038
Liu S, Huang J, Zhang W, Shi L, Yi K, Yu H, Zhang C, Li S, Li J (2022) Microplastics as a vehicle of heavy metals in aquatic environments: a review of adsorption factors mechanisms and biological effects. J Environ Manag 302:113995. https://doi.org/10.1016/jjenvman2021113995
Mammo FK, Amoah ID, Gani KM, Pillay L, Ratha SK, Bux F, Kumari S (2020) Microplastics in the environment: interactions with microbes and chemical contaminants. Sci Total Environ 743:140518. https://doi.org/10.1016/jscitotenv2020140518
Masura J, Baker J, Foster G, Arthur C (2015) Laboratory methods for the analysis of microplastics in the marine environment: recommendations for quantifying synthetic particles in waters and sediments, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS-OR&R–48. https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/10296. Accessed in November 2018
McCormick AR, Hoellein TJ, London MG, Hittie J, Scott JW, Kelly JJ (2016) Microplastic in surface waters of urban rivers: concentration sources and associated bacterial assemblages. Ecosphere 7(11):01556. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs21556
Miller RZ, Watts AJR, Winslow BO, Galloway TS, Barrows APW (2017) Mountains to the sea: river study of plastic and non-plastic microfiber pollution in the northeast USA. Mar Pollut Bull 124(1):245–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/jmarpolbul201707028
Murphy F, Ewins C, Carbonnier F, Quinn B (2016) Wastewater treatment works (WwTW) as a source of microplastics in the aquatic environment. Environ Sci Technol 50(11):5800–5808. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsest5b05416
Pan Z, Liu Q, Jiang R, Li W, Sun X, Lin H, Jiang S, Huang H (2021) Microplastic pollution and ecological risk assessment in an estuarine environment: the Dongshan Bay of China. Chemosphere 262:127876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127876
Peng G, Xu P, Zhu B, Bai M, Li D (2018) Microplastics in freshwater river sediments in Shanghai, China: a case study of risk assessment in mega-cities. Environ Pollut 234:448–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.034
Rochman CM et al (2019) Rethinking microplastics as a diverse contaminant suite. Environ Toxicol Chem 38(4):703–711. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc4371
Rodrigues MO, Abrantes N, Goncalves FJM, Nogueira H, Marques JC, Goncalves AMM (2018) Spatial and temporal distribution of microplastics in water and sediments of a freshwater system (Antua River Portugal). Sci Total Environ 633:1549–1559. https://doi.org/10.1016/jscitotenv201803233
Rodrigues MO, Gonçalves AMM, Gonçalves FJM, Abrantes N (2020) Improving cost-efficiency for MPs density separation by zinc chloride reuse. MethodsX 7:100785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2020.100785
Schmidt C, Krauth T, Wagner S (2017) Export of plastic debris by rivers into the sea. Environ Sci Technol 51(21):12246–12253. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsest7b02368
Schmidt C, Kumar R, Yang S, Büttner O (2020) Microplastic particle emission from wastewater treatment plant effluents into river networks in Germany: loads spatial patterns of concentrations and potential toxicity. Sci Total Environ 737:139544. https://doi.org/10.1016/jscitotenv2020139544
Schneider C, Rasband W, Eliceiri K (2012) NIH image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nat Methods 9:671–675. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth2089
Scircle A, Cizdziel JV, Missling K, Li L, Vianello A (2020) Single-pot method for the collection and preparation of natural water for microplastic analyses: microplastics in the Mississippi River system during and after historic flooding. Environ Toxicol Chem 39(5):986–995. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc4698
Simon M, van Alst N, Vollertsen J (2018) Quantification of microplastic mass and removal rates at wastewater treatment plants applying focal plane Array (FPA)-based Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging. Water Res 142:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/jwatres201805019
Simon-Sánchez L, Grelaud M, Garcia-Orellana J, Ziveri P (2019) River Deltas as hotspots of microplastic accumulation: the case study of the Ebro River (NW Mediterranean). Sci Total Environ 687:1186–1196. https://doi.org/10.1016/jscitotenv201906168
Statistica (2022) Single-use plastic waste volume generated in the Asia-Pacific region in 2019 by country or territory. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1308348/apac-single-use-plastic-waste-generation-by-country/. Accessed in March 2022
Sun J, Dai X, Wang Q, van Loosdrecht MCM, Ni BJ (2019) Microplastics in wastewater treatment plants: detection occurrence and removal. Water Res 152:21–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/jwatres201812050
Talvitie J, Mikola A, Setälä O, Heinonen M, Koistinen A (2016) How well is microlitter purified from wastewater? - a detailed study on the stepwise removal of microlitter in a tertiary level wastewater treatment plant. Water Res 109:164–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.11.046
Tomlinson DL, Wilson JG, Harris CR, Jeffrey DW (1980) Problems in the assessment of heavy metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index. Helgoländer Meeresun 33:566–575. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02414780
Watkins L, McGrattan S, Sullivan PJ, Walter MT (2019) The effect of dams on river transport of microplastic pollution. Sci Total Environ 664:834–840. https://doi.org/10.1016/jscitotenv201902028
Yan M, Nie H, Xu K, He Y, Hu Y, Huang Y, Wang J (2019) Microplastic abundance, distribution and composition in the Pearl River along Guangzhou city and Pearl River estuary, China. Chemosphere 217:879–886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.11.093
Acknowledgements
Authors would like to thank “Professor Tasuma Suzuki, and Professor Kenta FUJII, Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, Japan” for FTIR analytical support, and “Professor Kenji Watanabe, Genetic Experiment Facility, Center for Comprehensive Scientific Experiments, University Research Promotion Organization, Yamaguchi University, Japan” for microscopic analytical support. And special thanks go to Mr. K. Matsumoto (undergraduate student) for your cooperation. Authors also would like to thank Dr. Zhe Lu, Assistant Professor, University of Quebec at Rimouski (UQAR)-Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski (ISMER), Canada.
Funding
The authors would like to thank to the Explorers Club, New York, USA, for partial support under the OceanX Grant 2020–21.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
A. H. M. Enamul Kabir (conceptualization, investigation, methodology, formal analysis, writing—original draft); Masahiko Sekine (supervision, writing—review and editing).
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
Not applicable.
Consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
All authors agree for publishing this study.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kabir, A.H.M.E., Sekine, M. Wastewater treatment plants elevating microplastic abundances, ecological risks, and loads in Japanese rivers: a source-to-sink perspective. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 96499–96514 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29278-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29278-y