Abstract
We investigated the abundance of microplastics in freshwater, treated water, and household tap water from the drinking water supply chain in Changsha, China. The abundance was 2173–3998 (mean = 2753), 338–400 (mean = 351.9), and 267–404 (mean = 343.5) particles L−1 in freshwater, treated water, and tap water, respectively. Fibrous and fragments made up the majority (> 70%) in all water samples, and most polymers were composed of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Microplastics in tap water were related to materials of transportation pipelines in drinking-water supply chain. Although plastics are corrosion-resistant, the slight fragmentation and abrasion may occur during drinking water treatment transportation. This study provided a proof for the occurrence of microplastics in drinking water, which may offer a reference for microplastic removal during drinking water treatment, and the formulation of standards for microplastic content in drinking water.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Browne MA, Crump P, Niven SJ, Teuten E, Tonkin A, Galloway T, Thompson R (2011) Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: sources and sinks. Environ Sci Technol 45:9175–9179
Di M, Liu X, Wang W, Wang J (2019) Pollution in drinking water source areas: microplastics in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, China. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol 66:133–133
Di MX, Wang J (2018) Microplastics in surface waters and sediments of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China. Sci Total Environ 616:1620–1627
Dris R, Gasperi J, Rocher V, Saad M, Renault N, Tassin B (2015) Microplastic contamination in an urban area: a case study in Greater Paris. Environ Chem 12:592–599
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 75:63–83
Enfrin M, Dumee LF, Lee J (2019) Nano/microplastics in water and wastewater treatment processes - origin, impact and potential solutions. Water Res 161:621–638
Eriksen M, Mason S, Wilson S, Box C, Zellers A, Edwards W, Farley H, Amato S (2013) Microplastic pollution in the surface waters of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Mar Pollut Bull 77:177–182
Fossi MC, Coppola D, Baini M, Giannetti M, Guerranti C, Marsili L, Panti C, de Sabata E, Clò S (2014) Large filter feeding marine organisms as indicators of microplastic in the pelagic environment: the case studies of the Mediterranean basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) and fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). Mar Environ Res 100:17–24
Fossi MC, Pedà C, Compa M, Tsangaris C, Alomar C, Claro F, Ioakeimidis C, Galgani F, Hema T, Deudero S, Romeo T, Battaglia P, Andaloro F, Caliani I, Casini S, Panti C, Baini M (2018) Bioindicators for monitoring marine litter ingestion and its impacts on Mediterranean biodiversity. Environ Pollut 237:1023–1040
Free CM, Jensen OP, Mason SA, Eriksen M, Williamson NJ, Boldgiv B (2014) High-levels of microplastic pollution in a large, remote, mountain lake. Mar Pollut Bull 85:156–163
Frias JPGL, Nash R (2019) Microplastics: finding a consensus on the definition. Mar Pollut Bull 138:145–147
Gündogdu S, Çevik C, Ayat B, Aydoğan B, Karaca S (2018) How microplastics quantities increase with flood events? An example from Mersin Bay NE Levantine coast of Turkey. Environ Pollut 239:342–350
Hartmann NB, Hüffer T, Thompson RC, Hassellöv M, Verschoor A, Daugaard AE, Rist S, Karlsson T, Brennholt N, Cole M, Herrling MP, Hess MC, Ivleva NP, Lusher AL, Wagner M (2019) Are we speaking the same language? Recommendations for a definition and categorization framework for plastic debris. Environ Sci Technol 53:1039–1047
Hu D, Shen M, Zhang Y, Li H, Zeng G (2019) Microplastics and nanoplastics: would they affect global biodiversity change? Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:19997–20002
Hu D, Shen M, Zhang Y, Zeng G (2019) Micro(nano)plastics: an un-ignorable carbon source? Sci Total Environ 657:108–110
Käppler A, Fischer D, Oberbeckmann S, Schernewski G, Labrenz M, Eichhorn KJ, Voit B (2016) Analysis of environmental microplastics by vibrational microspectroscopy: FTIR, Raman or both? Anal Bioanal Chem 408:1–15
Klein S, Worch E, Thomas P, Knepper (2015) Occurrence and spatial distribution of microplastics in river shore sediments of the Rhine-Main area in Germany. Environ Sci Technol 49:6070–6076
Kosuth M, Mason SA, Wattenberg EV (2018) Anthropogenic contamination of tap water, beer, and sea salt. PLoS One 13:e0194970
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
Leslie HA, Brandsma SH, Velzen MJMV, Vethaak AD (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
Ma B, Xue W, Ding Y, Hu C, Liu H, Qu J (2018) Removal characteristics of microplastics by Fe-based coagulants during drinking water treatment. J Environ Sci 78:267–285
Ma B, Xue W, Hu C, Liu H, Qu J, Li L (2019) Characteristics of microplastic removal via coagulation and ultrafiltration during drinking water treatment. Chem Eng J 359:159–167
Mason SA, Welch VG, Neratko J (2018) Synthetic polymer contamination in bottled water. Front Chem 6:407
Mintenig SM, Loder MGJ, Primpke S, Gerdts G (2019) Low numbers of microplastics detected in drinking water from ground water sources. Sci Total Environ 648:631–635
Negrete Velasco AJ, Rard L, Blois W, Lebrun D, Lebrun F, Pothe F, Stoll S (2020) Microplastic and fibre contamination in a remote mountain lake in Switzerland. Water 12:2410
Oßmann BE, Sarau G, Holtmannspötter H, Pischetsrieder M, Christiansen SH, Dicke W (2018) Small-sized microplastics and pigmented particles in bottled mineral water. Water Res 141:307–316
Panno SV et al (2019) Microplastic contamination in karst groundwater systems. Groundwater 57:189–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12862
Perren W, Wojtasik A, Cai Q (2018) Removal of microbeads from wastewater using electrocoagulation. ACS Omega 3:3357–3364
Pivokonsky M, Cermakova L, Novotna K, Peer P, Cajthaml T, Janda V (2018) Occurrence of microplastics in raw and treated drinking water. Sci Total Environ 643:1644–1651
PlasticsEurope (2018) Plastics-The facts 2018
Schymanski D, Goldbeck C, Humpf HU, Furst P (2018) Analysis of microplastics in water by micro-Raman spectroscopy: release of plastic particles from different packaging into mineral water. Water Res 129:154–162
Setälä O, Fleming-Lehtinen V, Lehtiniemi M (2014) Ingestion and transfer of microplastics in the planktonic food web. Environ Pollut 185:77–83
Shen M, Song B, Zeng G, Zhang Y, Teng F, Zhou C (2021) Surfactant changes lead adsorption behaviors and mechanisms on microplastics. Chem Eng J 405:126989
Shen MC, Song B, Zhu Y, Zeng G, Zhang Y, Yang Y, Wen X, Chen M, Yi H (2020) Removal of microplastics via drinking water treatment: current knowledge and future directions. Chemosphere 251:126612
Shen M, Zeng G, Zhang Y, Wen X, Song B, Tang W (2019) Can biotechnology strategies effectively manage environmental (micro)plastics? Sci Total Environ 697:134200
Shen M, Zhang Y, Zhu Y, Song B, Zeng G, Hu D, Wen X, Ren X (2019) Recent advances in toxicological research of nanoplastics in the environment: a review. Environ Pollut 252:511–521
Shen M, Zhu Y, Zhang Y, Zeng G, Wen X, Yi H, Ye S, Ren X, Song B (2019) Micro(nano)plastics: unignorable vectors for organisms. Mar Pollut Bull 139:328–331
Shen M et al (2019) Can microplastics pose a threat to ocean carbon sequestration? Mar Pollut Bull 150:110712
Su L, Xue Y, Li L, Yang D, Kolandhasamy P, Li D, Shi H (2016) Microplastics in Taihu Lake, China. Environ Pollut 216:711–719
Thompson RC, Olsen Y, Mitchell RP, Davis A, Rowland SJ, John AW, McGonigle D, Russell AE (2004) Lost at sea: where is all the plastic? Science 304:838–838
Triebskorn R et al (2019) Relevance of nano- and microplastics for freshwater ecosystems: a critical review. Trac-Trends Anal Chem 110:375–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2018.11.023
Vendel AL, Bessa F, Alves VE, Amorim AL, Patrício J, Palma AR (2017) Widespread microplastic ingestion by fish assemblages in tropical estuaries subjected to anthropogenic pressures. Mar Pollut Bull 117:448–455
Wang W, Yuan W, Chen Y, Wang J (2018) Microplastics in surface waters of Dongting Lake and Hong Lake. China Sci Total Environ 633:539–545
Wang H, Zeng Z, Xu P, Li L, Zeng G, Xiao R, Tang Z, Huang D, Tang L, Lai C, Jiang D, Liu Y, Yi H, Qin L, Ye S, Ren X, Tang W (2019) Recent progress in covalent organic framework thin films: fabrications, applications and perspectives. Chem Soc Rev 48:488–516
Wang Y, Zhu Y, Hu Y, Zeng G, Zhang Y, Zhang C, Feng C (2018) How to construct DNA hydrogels for environmental applications: advanced water treatment and environmental analysis. Small 14:1703305
Wen X, du C, Xu P, Zeng G, Huang D, Yin L, Yin Q, Hu L, Wan J, Zhang J, Tan S, Deng R (2018) Microplastic pollution in surface sediments of urban water areas in Changsha, China: abundance, composition, surface textures. Mar Pollut Bull 136:414–423
Woodall LC, Gwinnett C, Packer M, Thompson RC, Robinson LF, Paterson GLJ (2015) Using a forensic science approach to minimize environmental contamination and to identify microfibres in marine sediments. Mar Pollut Bull 95:40–46
Wright SL, Kelly FJ (2017) Plastic and human health: a micro issue? Environ Sci Technol 51:6634–6647
Xu P, Zeng GM, Huang DL, Feng CL, Hu S, Zhao MH, Lai C, Wei Z, Huang C, Xie GX, Liu ZF (2012) Use of iron oxide nanomaterials in wastewater treatment: a review. Sci Total Environ 424:1–10
Yang D, Shi H, Li L, Li J, Jabeen K, Kolandhasamy P (2015) Microplastic pollution in table salts from China. Environ Sci Technol 49:13622–13627
Yuan W, Liu X, Wang W, Di M, Wang J (2019) Microplastic abundance, distribution and composition in water, sediments, and wild fish from Poyang Lake. China Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 170:180–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.11.126
Zhang K, Xiong X, Hu H, Wu C, Bi Y, Wu Y, Zhou B, Lam PKS, Liu J (2017) Occurrence and characteristics of microplastic pollution in Xiangxi Bay of Three Gorges Reservoir, China. Environ Sci Technol 51:3794–3801
Zhao S, Zhu L, Wang T, Li D (2014) Suspended microplastics in the surface water of the Yangtze Estuary System, China: first observations on occurrence, distribution. Mar Pollut Bull 86:562–568
Zhao J et al (2018) Microplastic pollution in sediments from the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, China. Sci Total Environ 640–641:637–645
Ziajahromi S, Neale PA, Rintoul L, Leusch FD (2017) Wastewater treatment plants as a pathway for microplastics: development of a new approach to sample wastewater-based microplastics. Water Res 112:93–99
Funding
The study is financially supported by the Program for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U20A20323, 51521006, 51909090), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT-13R17), the Three Gorges Follow-up Research Project (2017HXXY-05), and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (2019JJ50409).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
This manuscript was only submitted on Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
The authors make sure they have permissions for the use of software, questionnaires/(web) surveys, and scales in their studies (if appropriate). This research may not be misapplied to pose a threat to public health or national security.
There was no animal experiment in this manuscript.
Consent to publish
Results in this manuscript were presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation (including image-based manipulation).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Christian Gagnon
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
ESM 1
(DOCX 169 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shen, M., Zeng, Z., Wen, X. et al. Presence of microplastics in drinking water from freshwater sources: the investigation in Changsha, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 42313–42324 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13769-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13769-x