How Plastic Waste Moves in the Environment – ScienceDaily

The work, published in the November issue of the journal Progress in water resourcescould one day help communities better understand and reduce plastic pollution, which is a growing problem worldwide.

Millions of tons of plastic waste in tiny microscopic pieces sweep the world's oceans and end up in soil, sediment and fresh water. Plastic debris comes from many sources, including synthetic garment fibers, cosmetics, packaging and industrial processes. These pieces of plastic often end up in the oceans, harming the marine life that eats them.

Researchers have studied and measured microplastics in a variety of environments, but Nick Engdahl, an assistant professor in the civil and environmental engineering department, is the first to model the movement of synthetic fibers.

"I wanted to know if they were continuing to move and spread or they were simply accumulating in one place," said Engdahl, who studied the movement of various contaminants in the area. ;environment.

He used a new physics-based approach to simulate the movement of microplastic fibers, in particular. These synthetic fibers in clothing are created during their manufacturing process.

"Every time you walk or rub against something your clothes lose fiber," said Engdahl.

Microfibers, which are mainly released during the washing of clothes, end up in treatment plants, where a large proportion of waste passes through water filtration systems. Even those that are filtered end up in sewage sludge that can be spread on agricultural soils as fertilizer or dumped into landfills.

Engdahl discovered that the length of the fibers and the speed of the water in which they float determined whether they settle in the soil or continue to move in the environment. He also found that the movement of shorter microplastic fibers was complex and that they moved faster than dissolved substances in the water.

Engdahl strives to verify and refine his model based on direct observations of the movement of microplastic fibers in a laboratory. It also plans to measure fiber in a wastewater treatment facility.

"The more data I can get from the real world, the more I'll be able to see exactly if things are moving or staying in place," he said. "This will help us more accurately measure their impact on the environment, which is largely unknown at this time."

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