Wet wipes discharged by wastewater as a contribution to plastic pollution in the Arctic

Plastic litter is ubiquitous in our environment and the world oceans act as sinks for plastic waste. Even remote areas in the Arctic are shown to be polluted by plastics. The understanding of sources, quantities and mitigation for the Arctic remains limited. In Greenland as many other places in the Arctic, sewer wastewater discharged untreated to the sea may be a potential source of plastic pollution. Wastewater from two towns in Greenland, Sisimiut and Nuuk, was collected to determine the contribution of litter from wastewater to ocean plastic pollution. Litter > 25mm from wastewater from both cities was sampled, characterized, quantified, and type specified by FTIR spectroscopy. The results showed that among few other microlitter items as ear buds, sanitary pads and condoms, wet wipes were found in a high number in the wastewater. In 90 liters of wastewater, 12 and 23 wet wipes were found in the two cities. Here off were most of the wet wipes found to be of plastic or plastified origin, with an identified composition of 100% PET in Sisimiut and 50% PET and 25% viscose in Nuuk. The remaining 25% wet wipes in Nuuk were of cellulose. In this study, we identified wet wipes discharged by wastewater as a potential source of not only macrolitter pollution, and with fragmentation of the wet wipes also a source of synthetic white microplastic fibers to the marine environment.