@inproceedings{8754241,
  abstract     = {{Plastic industry is a booming business but unfortunately, part of the produced plastics end up in the environment. Once in the environment, the plastic will fragment into small particles, called microplastics (MP, smaller than 5 mm). Despite large (inter)national research efforts, many questions remain unanswered, especially at a local or regional scale. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore the MP pollution in the freshwater environment in Flanders. This research processed and analysed 210 samples collected from eight different matrices distributed in the geographic region Flanders (Belgium). Plastics were identified using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. It was evident that MP are omnipresent in the freshwater ecosystems of Flanders. One litre of surface water contained 0.48 MP particles (ranging between 0 and 4.8 MP per litre). The sediment of the waterways contained on average 2,990 MP particles per kg of dry weight sediment (ranging between 610 and 9,558 MP per kg). The risk of adverse effects of MP pollution for the Flemish waterways are low to negligible. The current research quantified the MP present in domestic waste water as one of the sources of MP pollution. Per litre of domestic waste water, 0.96 to 39.8 microplastic particles were found. In 83% of the households, the domestic waste water is being transported to an active waste water treatment plant (WWTP), which are able to remove 97.5% of the MP before discharged in the waterway. Another source of MP contamination in the environment are the microscopic rubber tire wear particles that are formed due to the friction between the tires and the road. Based on the run-off samples, an estimated emission of 10.8 mg tire wear particles per
driven km was calculated. The emissions of both above mentioned sources were extrapolated to whole Flanders region area. From the yearly MP pollution in the domestic waste water, 623 kg of MP particles will end up in the aquatic environment. The highest losses originate from the households that are not connected to a WWTP. The yearly net emission of tire wear particles in Flanders is estimated to be 245,926 kg, a remarkably higher emission compared to the estimated MP emission from domestic waste water. In conclusion, this research was able to demonstrate that MP are ubiquitous in the Flemish environment, but this data offers some clear perspectives on mitigation measures to reduce MP emission to the freshwater ecosystem.}},
  author       = {{Vercauteren, Maaike and Semmouri, Ilias and Van Acker, Emmanuel and Pequeur, Emmy and Van Esch, Leen and Uljee, Inge and Asselman, Jana and Janssen, Colin}},
  booktitle    = {{SETAC Europe, 32nd Annual Meeting, Abstracts}},
  keywords     = {{Microplastics,surface water,sediment,microplastic sources,domestic waste water,waste water treatment plant (WWTP),emission,tire wear}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Copenhagen, Denmark + online}},
  title        = {{Microplastic contamination in Flanders : identification of sources, pathways and mitigation strategies}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}