The occurrence of microplastics and microfibres in municipal water systems of the Niagara Region, ON

Session: Microplastics in the Environment: Source, Fate, Impact, Detection, and Mitigation (1)

Emily Ham, Brock University, [email protected]
Michael Pisaric, Brock University, [email protected]

Abstract

Microplastics are now ubiquitous in freshwater and terrestrial environments across the globe. Undoubtedly, plastics are entering Niagara water systems as well; entering as microplastics and microfibres derived from household products and materials. These microplastics are known to enter wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with untreated municipal influent and exit with the treated effluent, making their way into water bodies where they may be taken up by aquatic organisms. Furthermore, wastewater sludge is applied to agricultural fields throughout the Niagara Region between May and November. Thus, microplastics may be making their way onto agricultural lands where runoff can transport microplastics in the sludge applied to fields into adjacent water bodies. The main objectives of this study are: (1) to determine the prevalence of microplastics in the Niagara wastewater treatment system; (2) to determine if microplastics are accumulating in agricultural soils via biosolids application; and (3) to determine if microplastics are finding their way into surface water via runoff from adjacent agricultural fields and effluent discharge. Monthly effluent sampling in 2018 yielded a suspected microplastic count of 4.4 particles/L, and sampling downstream of a Niagara WWTP found 3.7 particles per m³ of surface water.