The report published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials by Eawag and the Water Department of the City of Zurich points out that the origin of nanoplastics remains little studied. The team, made up of researchers from the Eawag laboratory, ETH Zurich, EPFL and the Polytechnic of Turin, was able to use a mass spectrometer to trace the path and behavior of nanoplastics in the treatment facilities. equipped with sand filters.
The results reveal that even if there were significant quantities of nanoplastics in the raw water, 99.9% of the nanoparticles were retained during the treatment, both during the laboratory tests and in the pilot installation of the Service des Eaux de la City of Zürich.
The models also suggest very high removal of nanoplastics over longer periods of time, for example with extended service life or extended filter backwash intervals.
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