Size-dependent transport and retention of micron-sized plastic spheres in natural sand saturated with seawater

Water Research
Zhiqiang DongLi Wei

Abstract

A series of one-dimensional column experiments were conducted to investigate the transport and retention of micron-sized plastic spheres (MPs) with diameters of 0.1-2.0 μm in seawater-saturated sand. In seawater with salinity of 35 PSU (practical salinity units), the mass percentages recovered from the effluent (Meff) of the larger MPs increased from 13.6% to 41.3%, as MP size decreased from 2.0 μm to 0.8 μm. This occurred because of the gradual reduction of physical straining effect of MPs in the pores between sands. The smaller MPs (0.6, 0.4, and 0.1 μm) showed the stronger inhibition of MPs mobility, with Meff values of 11.5%, 11.9%, and 9.8%, respectively. This was due to the lower energy barriers (from 108 kBT to 16 kBT) between the smaller MPs and the sand surface, when compared with the larger MPs (from 296 kBT to 161 kBT). In particular, the aggregation of MPs (0.6 or 0.4 μm) triggered a progressive decrease in MP concentration in the effluent. Retention experiments showed that the vertical migration distance of most MP colloids was 0-4 cm at the inlet of column. For 0.6 or 0.4 μm MPs, the particles were concentrated over a 0-2 cm vertical distance. Moreover, the salinity (35-3.5 PSU) did not affect the transport of the...Continue Reading

Citations

Aug 25, 2020·Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology·Ting WangRong Ji
Nov 17, 2020·Journal of Hazardous Materials·Danlian HuangRuijin Li
Mar 27, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Oluchi MbachuChris Pratt
Apr 30, 2021·Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology·Ling LiuWei Jiang
Aug 21, 2021·Journal of Hazardous Materials·Jinni YaoHongxia Liu
Jan 19, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·Meiping TongZhiyao Ma
Dec 30, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Lina Ramirez ArenasSerge Stoll
Dec 31, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Xiaoting ZhangDefu He
Jan 3, 2022·The Science of the Total Environment·Maocai ShenYaxin Zhang

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