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Identification and Characterization of Microfibers in Wastewater Discharging into Lake Erie.pdf (3.57 MB)

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Bay_View_WWTP_Effluent#1_9-10-18.zip (725.87 MB)

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Bay_View_WWTP_Influent_4-30-18.zip (1060.48 MB)

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Bowling_Green_CSO_Surface_6-27-18.zip (755.41 MB)

Bowling_Green_WWTP_Effluent#1_12-5-18.zip (274.28 MB)

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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Identification and Characterization of Microfibers in Wastewater Discharging into Lake Erie

Houck, Blane
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1555701070926725

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, Geology.
The presence of microplastic fibers (MPFs) among freshwater systems is an increasing concern in the context of global freshwater potability due to their persistence, potential toxicity, and ubiquity among the natural environment. These MPFs are described as being filamentous microplastic particles (MPPs) that are released into the natural environment through byproducts of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) or effluent discharged from combined sewer overflow (CSO) events. The primary purpose of this study is to develop a reproducible method of extracting, quantifying, and chemically characterizing MPFs among wastewater, CSO, and sludge cake samples. The influent, effluent, and sludge cake samples from three different WWTPs that discharge into Lake Erie were analyzed for the presence of MPFs. Additionally, CSO outfalls (located in Bowling Green and Cleveland, OH) were analyzed for the presence of MPFs during CSO events. Laboratory processing of a given sample involved density separation within a sediment-microplastic isolation unit (SMIU), organic matter digestion of the SMIU’s supernatant, vacuum filtration of the digested solution, extraction of MPFs from the vacuum filter onto microscope slides and capturing images of MPFs on microscope slides using a polarized light microscope (PLM). MPFs among images were counted using an ImageJ macro designed to count asbestos fibers. An adjusted macro was used to identify MPPs among images. MPFs among all effluent samples were counted both manually and with ImageJ. Raman spectra of MPFs and standard plastic materials were obtained via Raman spectroscopy. Using the Spectral ID software, spectra of the analyzed MPFs were matched to spectra of the analyzed standard plastic materials within a specified degree of certainty. Comparing ImageJ’s counts to manual counts of MPFs among effluent samples revealed a linear relationship between the two groups (r-squared equals 0.6969). The comparison of MPFs in effluent samples to MPFs in influent samples showed a decrease of 85-94% with effluent samples yielding average MPFs values of 152-255 fibers/liter for the different WWTPs. Background amounts of MPFs were determined through processing deionized (DI) water. Through analysis, it was demonstrated that the atmosphere was the largest source of MPFs to the DI water samples. Analysis of effluent discharged from CSOs located in Bowling Green and Cleveland, OH revealed an average of 648 MPFs and 1401 MPPs contained within a given liter of CSO effluent, respectively. Raman analysis revealed that greater than 99-percent of the identified MPFs were composed of polyester. These results suggest that clothes washing activities are in fact contributing MPFs to WWTPs and that MPPs were released from the analyzed CSOs during discharge events. However, a given WWTP may be able to reduce its MPF emissions by adopting treatment regimens similar to those implemented by the BG WWTP. Moreover, the presence of environmental background amounts of MPFs suggests that atmospheric concentrations of MPFs may be more significant than previously thought. Furthermore, the results and methods of this study may be used to establish reproducible methods of analyzing MPFs discharging from potential sources into Lake Erie.
John Farver, PhD (Advisor)
Ganming Liu, PhD (Committee Member)
Jeffrey Snyder, PhD (Committee Member)
102 p.
Environmental Geology; Materials Science; Textile Research
Microplastics; Microplastic Fibers; Wastewater; Lake Erie

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Houck, B. (2019). Identification and Characterization of Microfibers in Wastewater Discharging into Lake Erie [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1555701070926725

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Houck, Blane. Identification and Characterization of Microfibers in Wastewater Discharging into Lake Erie. 2019. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1555701070926725.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Houck, Blane. "Identification and Characterization of Microfibers in Wastewater Discharging into Lake Erie." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1555701070926725

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1555701070926725
643
© 2019, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Identification and Characterization of Microfibers in Wastewater Discharging into Lake Erie by Blane Houck is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.