Microplásticos em águas residuais domésticas - Emissão de microfibras poliméricas devido a lavagem mecânica

Ana Margarida Mastbaum Aleixo

Key information

Authors:

Ana Margarida Mastbaum Aleixo (Ana Margarida Mastbaum Aleixo)

Supervisors:

Ana Fonseca Galvão (Ana Fonseca Galvão); Hilda de Pablo Leonardo (Hilda de Pablo Leonardo)

Published in

12/03/2018

Abstract

Microplastics, in which microfibres are included, have recently emerged as an environmental issue. Polymeric fibres of small dimensions come from the use of synthetic fabrics, widely used worldwide. These fibres are released during the washing of the textiles and are introduced in the environment via the wastewater. Using the same program, temperature and RPM, washing of textiles in a domestic environment was simulated in order to estimate the contribution of domestic effluents to the emission of polymer microfibres to the receptor media. The mass and number of fibres was determined, and the removal efficiency was estimated at a waste water treatment plant, based on literature data. MOHID Water, a hydrodynamic and biogeochemical model, was used to model the emission of microfibres from Beirolas WWTP in Lisbon, and the behaviour of said particles in the Tagus estuary.