The UTC Graduate School is pleased to announce that Mithu Chanda will present Master’s research titled, MICROPLASTICS IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: DISTRIBUTION, FATE, TRANSPORT, AND TREATMENT on 11/11/2024 at 1:00 pm in ECS 426. Everyone is invited to attend.
Engineering
Chair: Dr. Jejal Reddy Bathi
Co-Chair:
Abstract:
Microplastics (MPs) pollution has become a growing environmental concern, especially in urban areas, where various human activities contribute to their presence in aquatic systems. This research explores multiple aspects of MPs contamination, focusing on their distribution in urban freshwater environments, the effectiveness of bioretention systems (BRS) for their removal, and the factors influencing their fate and transport in environmental media. Field investigations were conducted to analyze the distribution of MPs across different land use types in urban settings, revealing distinct patterns related to residential, educational and mixed areas. These findings provide insights into how specific land uses contribute to MPs contamination in urban areas. Additionally, this study evaluated the performance of bioretention cells as a green infrastructure solution for retaining MPs from urban environments, highlighting their role as a mitigation strategy. To further understand MPs behavior, controlled laboratory experiments were conducted to assess their fate and transport in environmental media. The influence of physicochemical parameters was examined, and findings suggested that these factors affected MPs retention and mobility in environments. This thesis provides a comprehensive evaluation of MPs pathways in urban environments, contributing valuable insights for pollution mitigation efforts and advancing our understanding of MPs behavior across various environmental compartments.