Are you aware of any additional studies/reports that should be considered on this topic area?

Answer Explanations

• Yes

  Expert 1

  The authors should have included the latest U.S municipal wastewater treatment statistics and factsheet in each state and the EPA’s Organic Chemicals, Plastics and Synthetic Fibers Effluents (OCPSF) Guidelines and Standards (1993) in the discussion at the very least. This will likely provide a more meaningful discussion based on the latest WWTP effluent statistics and will allow the authors to compare whether the PVA concentrations emitted to the water bodies in each state is within the OCPSF guidelines.

• No

  Expert 8

  I have done my own literature search and have found no relevant data on actual PVA removal in full-scale WWTPs.

• Yes

  Expert 7

  Byrne et al 2021 Biodegradability of polyvinyl alcohol based film use in liquid detergent capsules. Tenside Surfactants Detergents 58(2) 89-96 DOI:10.1515/tds-2020-2326 (probably not published in time for the article but shows how important good data and interpretation is).

• Yes

  Expert 6

  Socioeconomic factors impacting wastewater composition (e.g., https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00392)
  Translating removal efficiencies per stage to operation WWTP performance (e.g., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.03.025)
  ECETOC Technical Report on Persistency (https://www.ecetoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ECETOC-TR-090.pdf ; mainly Chapter 3 and Chapter 4)
  Adaptation of WWTPs (e.g., https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5b03649)

  Please note the above is not an exhaustive overview, but contains some primary examples that will lead to a large body of additional supporting literature when reviewed entirely.

• Yes

  Expert 4

  This is an important and contested area of research, as all plastic materials in the environment are facing scrutiny. So, there are always new studies to consider, although I have not seen studies similar in approach to the article by Rolsky and Kelkar. For examples, see:
  Nigro, L., Magni, S., Ortenzi, M.A., Gazzotti, S., Della Torre, C. and Binelli, A., 2022. Are “liquid plastics” a new environmental threat? The case of polyvinyl alcohol. Aquatic Toxicology, p.106200.

  Song, Q., Chen, X., Tang, L. and Zhou, W., 2021. Treatment of polyvinyl alcohol containing wastewater in two stage spiral symmetrical stream anaerobic bioreactors coupled a sequencing batch reactor. Bioresource Technology, 340, p.125702.

• No

  Expert 3

  I have not actively looked for such studies/reports and am therefore not aware of any.