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Micropollutants in treated wastewater.

ABSTRACT: Compounds such as pharmaceuticals, or personal care products are only partially removed in wastewater treatment processes. Large number of these compounds and their degradation products is out of any control. A small number of compounds are covered by legal regulations. Among the compounds non-regulated by law, the target compounds, as well as non-target compounds can be distinguished. In the scientific literature, number of reports on various target compounds' determination is increasingly growing. This paper provides an up-to-date review on micropollutants present in treated wastewater and their concentrations found in literature in the years 2015-2019. Because the obtained results of chemical analyses do not adequately reflect the risks to ecosystems and consequently humans, the results of chemical analyses have been supplemented by a review of ecotoxicological studies. In addition, legal issues linked to contamination of treated wastewater and research related to identification of non-target compounds in treated effluents have been discussed.

SUBMITTER: Rogowska J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6965340 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Micropollutants in treated wastewater.

Rogowska Justyna J Cieszynska-Semenowicz Monika M Ratajczyk Wojciech W Wolska Lidia L

Ambio 20190710 2

Compounds such as pharmaceuticals, or personal care products are only partially removed in wastewater treatment processes. Large number of these compounds and their degradation products is out of any control. A small number of compounds are covered by legal regulations. Among the compounds non-regulated by law, the target compounds, as well as non-target compounds can be distinguished. In the scientific literature, number of reports on various target compounds' determination is increasingly grow ...[more]

PMID: 31292910

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Project description:COVID19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions to constrain SARS-CoV-2 spreading produced several impacts on the worldwide population. The present study focused on 10 Organic Micropollutants (illicit drugs, pharmaceuticals including some antibiotics and caffeine) and aimed to assess: (1) if COVID19 pandemic restrictions affected the load of those contaminants released into the sewage network and consequently the removal achieved by the Wastewater Treatment Plants; (2) if pursuant to the COVID19 pandemic, there was a change in population consumption rates of the same compounds through the wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach. Two full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in Central Italy were chosen as case studies, which are distinguished by different characteristics of the catchment area and water treatment layouts. The study was based on a 2-years monitoring activity of the concentration of the above organic micropollutants, traditional water quality parameters (COD, TSS, nitrogen compounds, total phosphorous) and flow rate in the influent and effluent. The statistical analysis of the monitoring data showed an increase of the influent load of most of the organic micropollutants. A decrease from 22% to -18% of the median removal efficiency was observed for carbamazepine in the WWTP with the lower treatment capacity only. The other compounds were removed roughly at the same rate. The application of the WBE approach demonstrated an increase in the consumption rate of cocaine, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadiazine, carbamazepine and above all caffeine during the COVID19 restrictions period. These results highlight that COVID19 pandemic affected people's lifestyle and habits also as far as drugs consumption is concerned, which in turn might have an impact on the treatment efficacy of plants and finally on the receiving water body quality. Therefore, it is mandatory to keep monitoring to improve knowledge and eventually to implement the required measures to address this new problem.

Project description:Wastewater discharge is one of the main sources of micropollutants within the aquatic environment. To reduce the risks for the aquatic environment, the reduction of the chemical load of wastewater treatment plant effluent is critical. Based on this need, additional treatment methods, such as ozonation, are currently being tested in several wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In the present study, effects were investigated using in situ feeding experiments with Gammarus pulex and body burden analyses of frequently detected micropollutants which used a Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) multi-residue method to quantify internal concentrations in collected gammarids. Information obtained from these experiments complemented data from the chemical analysis of water samples and bioassays, which predominantly cover hydrophilic substances. When comparing up- and downstream feeding rates of Gammarus pulex for seven days, relative to the WWTPs, no significant acute effects were detected, although a slight trend of increased feeding rate downstream of the WWTP Aachen-Soers was observed. The chemical load released by the WWTP or at other points, or by diffuse sources, might be too low to lead to clear acute effects on G. pulex. However, some compounds found in wastewater are able to alter the microbial community on its leaves, leading to an increase in the feeding rate of G. pulex. Chemical analysis of internal concentrations of pollutants in the tissues of collected gammarids suggests a potential risk for chronic effects with the chemicals imidacloprid, thiacloprid, carbendazim, and 1H-benzotriazole when exceeding the critical toxic unit value of -3. This study has demonstrated that a combination of acute testing and measurement of the internal concentration of micropollutants that might lead to chronic effects is an efficient tool for investigating river systems, assuming all relevant factors (e.g., species or season) are taken into account.

Dataset Information

Micropollutants in treated wastewater.

Publications

Micropollutants in treated wastewater.

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