MONITOR- Micro- and Nanoparticles in relevant municipal cycles: detection, characterization, exposure to humans and possible accumulation

The pollution generated from micro- and nano-plastics is a growing public concern, fed by the lack of established scientific knowledge both about the effective amounts that can be found in water bodies, both about the effect on human health. Unverified information is spreading easily through the media, generating public emergencies which risk to have negative repercussion on economic activities.

While the main concern is linked to the presence of the so-called “plastic islands” in the seas and oceans, all the water bodies could be concerned by this issue. Regarding the urban environment, micro- and nano-plastic are mainly generated in households, where, for example, the use of washing machines is constantly eroding synthetic fibers of clothes. All these micrometric fibers are then flowing to the sewage, ending up in the local sewage treatment facilities.

Therefore, Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants are the main receptor of this small fibers flowing from households: it is then of the highest importance to develop reliable and shared data to counter any misinformation.