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Analysis of institutional authors

Pulido-Reyes GCorresponding Author

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July 11, 2022
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Article

Nanoplastics removal during drinking water treatment: Laboratory- and pilot-scale experiments and modeling

Publicated to:JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. 436 129011- - 2022-08-15 436(), DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129011

Authors: Pulido-Reyes, Gerardo; Magherini, Leonardo; Bianco, Carlo; Sethi, Rajandrea; von Gunten, Urs; Kaegi, Ralf; Mitrano, Denise M

Affiliations

Ecole Polytech Fed Lausanne, Sch Architecture Civil & Environm Engn ENAC, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland - Author
Politecn Torino, Dept Environm Land & Infrastruct Engn DIATI, Corso Duca Abruzzi 24, I-10129 Turin, Italy - Author
Spanish Natl Inst Agr & Food Res & Technol INIA C, Crta Coruna,Km 7-5, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Swiss Fed Inst Aquat Sci & Technol, Eawag, Ueberlandstr 133, CH-8600 Dubendorf, Switzerland - Author
Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Environm Syst Sci Dept, CH-08092 Zurich, Switzerland - Author
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Abstract

Microplastics detected in potable water sources and tap water have led to concerns about the efficacy of current drinking water treatment processes to remove these contaminants. It is hypothesized that drinking water resources contain nanoplastics (NPs), but the detection of NPs is challenging. We, therefore, used palladium (Pd)-labeled NPs to investigate the behavior and removal of NPs during conventional drinking water treatment processes including ozonation, sand and activated carbon filtration. Ozone doses typically applied in drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) hardly affect the NPs transport in the subsequent filtration systems. Amongst the different filtration media, NPs particles were most efficiently retained when aged (i.e. biofilm coated) sand was used with good agreements between laboratory and pilot scale systems. The removal of NPs through multiple filtration steps in a municipal full-scale DWTP was simulated using the MNMs software code. Removal efficiencies exceeding 3-log units were modeled for a combination of three consecutive filtration steps (rapid sand filtration, activated carbon filtration and slow sand filtration with 0.4-, 0.2- and 3.0-log-removal, respectively). According to the results from the model, the removal of NPs during slow sand filtration dominated the overall NPs removal which is also supported by the laboratory-scale and pilot-scale data. The results from this study can be used to estimate the NPs removal efficiency of typical DWTPs with similar water treatment chains.

Keywords

drinking water treatmentgranular activated carbonnanoplasticsozonationCharcoalDrinking waterDrinking water treatmentFiltrationGranular activated carbonMicroplasticsNanoplasticsOzonationPlasticsSandSand filtrationWater pollutants, chemicalWater purification

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 10/275, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Environmental Sciences. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 6.95. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 3.04 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 9.23 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-04, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 33
  • Scopus: 35
  • Europe PMC: 6

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-04:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 200.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 200 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 144.2.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 35 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on Wikipedia: 2 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 13 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Italy; Switzerland.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (PULIDO REYES, GERARDO) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been PULIDO REYES, GERARDO.