A review of microplastic removal from water and wastewater by membrane technologies
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Level 5 by design analogy (narrative review / literature synthesis of bench and engineering data).
OpenAlex W4380685640 · doi:10.2166/wst.2023.186
What was done
This paper reviewed published literature on microplastic (MP) removal from water and wastewater treatment facilities. The review evaluated the properties of MPs in wastewater and drinking water treatment plants, assessed removal efficiencies across membrane technologies—including microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO), and membrane bioreactors (MBRs)—and compared membrane filtration to alternative removal methods while discussing operational challenges like membrane fouling and secondary MP shedding from polymeric membranes.
What was found
The abstract provides no quantitative data, performance metrics, or specific numerical removal efficiencies. It qualitatively states that conventional treatment plants fail to completely eliminate microplastics and identifies advanced membrane technologies as the most effective and promising solutions for MP removal, while noting trade-offs such as membrane fouling and potential MP release from polymeric filter materials.
Why it matters
It synthesizes current technological capabilities for capturing microplastics in water infrastructure, highlighting specific membrane modalities and pointing out operational challenges such as fouling and filter degradation.
Limits
The abstract provides no quantitative extraction rates, effect sizes, or search parameters (e.g., number of included studies, databases searched, screening criteria), indicating a non-systematic narrative review. Real-world operational costs, scalability, and long-term membrane lifespan were not quantified in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Reverse osmosis water filters remove microplastics, nanoplastics, BPA, phthalates, and chemical contaminants from water.