Microfibers in the Riverine Environment

Both the cellulose-based (CB) natural and petroleum-based (PB) artificial microfibers originating from wastewater treatment plants and atmospheric deposition are characteristic contaminants in the riverine environ-ment. Due to their extremely slow degradation and long resident time, the research interest is focused first of all on the PB-microfibers. However, if we consider the simi-lar harmful effect of the ingested natural or artificial mi-crofibers on the microorganisms, first of all on the zoo-planktons (e.g. cladocerans, rotifers, copepods) and the fact, that the biodegradation of CB-microfibers also needs a few months or half a year, it is evident that both type of these contaminants have negative effect on the aquatic ecosystem. Namely, the endangered zooplank-tons form the base of the aquatic food web and its stabil-ity is threated by the ingested microfibers. Our investiga-tions in this topic were focused at first on the microfiber emission of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Budapest studying the microplastic and microfiber con-centrations in the effluent.