http://www.awi.de/en/news/press_releases/detail/item/pilot_study_reveals_new_findings_about_microplastics_in_wastewater/?cHash=7fe45c76ff97429909a5d9cf3eb38240

30. October 2014: Pilot study reveals new findings about microplastics
in wastewater

+++ Common press release with OOWV and NLWKN+++

Bremerhaven / Oldeburg, 30 October 2014. Treatment plants cannot
completely keep microplastics out of wastewater by conventional means.
This is one of the results of a pilot study commissioned by the regional
water association of Oldenburg and Ostfriesland, Germany (OOWV ?
Oldenburg-Ostfriesischer Wasserverband) and the Lower Saxony Water
Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation Agency (NLWKN -
Niedersächsischer Landesbetrieb für Wasserwirtschaft, Küsten- und
Naturschutz). The findings will be used to better protect flora and
fauna in rivers and seas.

All plastic particles smaller than five millimetres are designated as
microparticles. Microplastics have been included in the European Marine
Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) as an indicator of the status of
marine waters.

Experts at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and
Marine Research (AWI) examined wastewater and sewage sludge from twelve
treatment plants in the region covered by the OOWV water board. ?The
study provides valuable findings about plastic residues that no one has
obtained thus far. By applying state-of-the-art methods, it is now
possible to specifically classify plastics, such as those used in
toothpaste, cosmetics, fleece jackets and packaging, even in wastewater.
For this reason the study is also relevant for legislators,
manufacturers and industry,? explains OOWV Managing Director Karsten Specht.

To be able to detect and classify particles in wastewater as well as in
sewage sludge, the researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute
employed micro-FTIR and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. This involves using
infrared radiation to set molecular bonds into oscillation. Depending on
the method, the scientists press questionable particles onto a crystal
for more detailed classification or place them on an aluminium oxide
filter in order then to analyse them under a microscope. Through these
methods it is possible to identify the plastics without a doubt and
reliably differentiate them from natural materials.

http://www.awi.de/en/news/press_releases/embargoed_photos/2014_embargoed_pr/image_gallery_micorplastics_in_sewage_plants/

http://www.awi.de/fileadmin/user_upload/News/Press_Releases/2014/4_Quartal/Mikroplastik_Klaeranlagen/Abschlussbericht_Mikroplastik_in_Klaeranlagen.pdf
The pilot study is available (only in German) in this PDF.