OCCURRENCE AND FATE OF EMERGING CONTAMINANTS IN SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT OF ATHENS (original) (raw)
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Chemical Engineering Journal, 2015
Investigated the treatability of EDCs in different wastewater treatment plants. Different removal percentage observed in different plants. Carbamazepine and diltiazem not absorb onto MBR sludge whereas they can absorbed onto CAS sludge. EDCs sorbed onto sludge were not effectively degraded in the anaerobic digester environment. CAS and MBR plants may be associated with the microbial population composition. a b s t r a c t Endocrine disrupting compounds, EDCs, are somewhat recently recognized pollutants which are often classed within 'emerging micropollutants' in the environment jargon. These compounds are known to interfere with the delicate balance of the endocrine system of animals and man, causing variety of undesirable outcomes. Their sources in natural waters are the domestic and industrial effluents. The main cause of concern with EDCs is their tendency to accumulate in fish causing gender shifts and reduced fecundity. Moreover, their possible interference with the water cycle and concurrent effects on the human endocrine system has been implicated. Increased usage of medication and surfactants in the household; pesticides in agriculture have all add up to the inventory of EDCs in the aqueous systems.
Waste Water - Evaluation and Management, 2011
The term "new" environmental pollutant covers all anthropogenic contaminants that have been released in the environment over the last few decades. Research into their fate and impact on the environment has started relatively recently. The group of new environmental pollutants consists of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and a wide range of organic pesticides. This group has recently been expanded with polybrominated flame retardants, drugs, detergents, and personal hygiene products. Chemicals, used everyday in homes, industry and agriculture, can enter the environment in wastewater. According to the United Nations Organization 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water, and over 2.6 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation systems. On July 28, 2010, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution supporting water as a human right and urging governments and international organizations to address this important human right. Interest in the presence of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and endocrine disruptors in the environment has increased significantly over the last decade. Pharmaceuticals and synthetic musk compounds in personal care products (PPCPs), are groups of organic micropollutants which are routinely detected in surface water, ground water and even in drinking water (McClellan and Halde, 2010). Hundreds of tons of these compounds are dispensed in communities every year. PPCPs are regarded as being potentially hazardous compounds as some are ubiquitous, persistent and biologically active compounds with recognised endocrine disruption functions (Kasprzyk-Hordern et. al., 2002). Many pharmaceuticals, upon administration, are degraded in the body and may even become inactive, but others, often those applied externally, excreted or not absorbed fully, can leave the body in their active forms. (Roberts &Thomas, 2006). The others only slightly transformed or even unchanged often conjugated to endogenous substrate (e.g. glucuronic acid, sulfuric acid, acetic acid to polar molecules. (Roberts and Thomas, 2006). These conjugates are easily cleaved during sewage treatment and, thus, several pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are discharged almost unchanged from municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs) into the receiving waters (Heberer, 2002). The wide range of trace chemical contaminants persisting in municipal wastewater after conventional treatment www.intechopen.com Waste Water-Evaluation and Management 4 includes inorganic compounds, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants like endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceutically active compounds; personal care products (PPCPs), disinfection by-products and many other complex compounds persist through the waste water treatment process. As a result, terrestrial and aquatic organisms can be exposed to these compounds when treatment by-products are subsequently reintroduced into the broader environment. Exposure can be associated with effluents from waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) leach from landfills, and runoff or leach from land that has received applications of reclaimed waters and/or biosolids. Thus, a number of PPCPs are widely detected in water resources throughout the world (Edwards et al., 2009; Lapen et al., 2008; Fatta-Kassinos et al., 2010). From reasons mentioned above is very important to monitor large spectra of chemicals not only in biosolids, which represents inevitable by-products of WWTPs, but in reclaimed water from municipal wastewater treatment. Waste water treatments produces large amount of sewage sludges/biosolids. Part of them is after treatment process used as fertilizer (Jones-Lepp & Stevens, 2006). The Sewage Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC seeks to encourage the use of sewage sludge in agriculture and to regulate its use in such a way as to prevent harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals and man. On the other hand sludge could be posing a risk for environment they tends to concentrate heavy metals and organic but its, however, rich in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous and contains valuable organic matter. Directive 86/278/EEC sets limit values for seven heavy metals, for some congeners of PCBs and AOX (Absorbable organic halides) other organic compounds and ecotoxicity tests arenť required The European Commission is currently assessing whether the current Directive should be reviewed-and if so, the extent of this review (Council directive, 1986). In the 1980´ and 90´the focus on the analysis of sewage sludge meanly deal with pathogens, inorganic (metals), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) (Alcock et al.; 1996 Eljarrat et al., 2001). In 21TH century analysis of these matrices is not target only for selected traditional analytes but new xenobiotics as pharmaceuticals and musk compounds in sewage sludge are reported (Herren & Berset 2000; Zorita et al., 2009; McClellan & Halde, 2010). Ecotoxicological evaluation of sewage sludge as integral part of environmental analysis started to appear in this century sparsely (Park et al. 2005, Domene et al., 2008). Chemicals analysis is integral part of water quality evaluation but to predict effect of this water or used sewage sludge on environment is necessary to use some other possibilities. Useful toll for this could be biotests. Global evaluation of wastewaters should include ecotoxicological tests to complete the chemical characterization. The integrated assessment of biological effects of wastewater discharges in the ecosystems is relevant and ecotoxicity tests are referred as extremely useful tools for the identification of environmental impacts (Mendonca et al., 2009). 1.1 Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals are biologically active substances. It is documented that drug production and consumption are increasing worldwide, both in human and veterinary medicine. The consequence of this trend is the increased input of these substances into the environment, where they can exist in their original or metabolized form and can have significant impacts on natural ecosystems (Halling-Sörensen, 1998). The hazardous source of pharmaceuticals represents agriculture, predominantly livestock production. Growth stimulants and antibiotics used as prophylaxis drugs entered ecosystem in faeces and urine as fertiliser
Occurrence and fate of endocrine disrupters in Greek sewage treatment plants
Water Research, 2008
Presence Removal Sewage sludge Risk assessment a b s t r a c t The occurrence of five endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), namely 4-n-nonylphenol (4-n-NP), nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP1EO), nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP2EO), triclosan (TCS) and bisphenol A (BPA), was assessed in the raw, treated wastewater and sewage sludge of eight sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Greece. The analytes were extracted by solid-phase extraction (dissolved phase) or sonication (solid phase).
Computational Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering, 2014
In recent years, many research and development activities have focussed on endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in rivers, lakes and surface waters as the potential cause of reproductive disturbances in different aquatic organisms e.g. fish and mollusk. The effluent of wastewater treatment plants was identified as main source for EDCs entering the aquatic environment. The purpose of the present study was to determine the estrogenic activity of wastewater and the elimination efficiency of various WWTPs in the different purification steps using the E-screen assay, an in-vitro test system based on the increasing proliferation of human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) in response to the presence of hormonal active substances. In contrast to expensive and time-intensive targeted instrumental single substance analysis an effect-related biological testing provides a sum parameter for the entirety of compounds contributing to the total estrogenic activity (agonists and antagonists, anti-estrogenic and also toxic compounds) in concentration units of the reference substance 17β-estradiol. The current standard purification methods of biological wastewater treatment in particular the activated sludge process significantly reduce estrogenicity (average 95%). Sorption on activated carbon and subsequent precipitation leads to a further reduction of the overall estrogenic activity up to 99%.
Analysis and removal of emerging contaminants in wastewater and drinking water
Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 2003
The occurrence of trace organic contaminants in wastewaters, their behaviour during wastewater treatment and drinking water production are the key issues in relation to the reuse of water resources. Elimination of different classes of emerging contaminants, such as surfactant degradates, pharmaceuticals and polar pesticides in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) was found to be rather low and consequently sewage effluents are one of the main sources of these compounds and their recalcitrant metabolites. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in the analysis of several groups of emerging contaminants (acidic pharmaceuticals, antibacterial agents, acidic pesticides and surfactant metabolites) in wastewaters. Their elimination in WWTP applying conventional activated sludge treatment and advanced treatment processes, such as membrane bioreactors (MBR) and advanced oxidation (AOP), as well as the elimination during drinking water production are discussed.
Journal of Environmental Management, 2013
This work assessed the behaviour of nine pharmaceuticals and/or endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in demo-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors (UASB reactors) coupled to distinct simplified post-treatment units (submerged bed, polishing ponds, and trickling filters) fed on raw sewage taken from a municipality in Brazil. The dissolved concentration of the studied micropollutants in the raw and treated sewage was obtained using solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by analysis in a liquid chromatography system coupled to a hybrid high resolution mass spectrometer consisting of an ion-trap and time of flight (LC-MS-IT-TOF). The UASB reactors demonstrated that they were not appropriate for efficiently removing the assessed compounds from the sewage. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was an important parameter for the removal of the hydrophilic and less biodegradable compounds, such as trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. The post-treatment units substantially increased the removal of most target micropollutants present in the anaerobic effluents, with a greater removal of micropollutants in simplified systems that require a large construction area, such as the submerged bed and polishing ponds, probably because of the higher HRT employed. Alternatively, compact post-treatment systems, such as trickling filters, tended to be less effective at removing most of the micropollutants studied, and the type of packing proved to be crucial for determining the fate of such compounds using trickling filters.
Water research, 2018
Emerging contaminants, such as antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, hormones, and artificial sweeteners, are recognized as new classes of water contaminants due to their proven or potential adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health. This review provides comprehensive data on the occurrence of 60 emerging contaminants (ECs) in influent, treated effluent, sludge, and biosolids in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In particular, data on the occurrence of ECs in the influents and effluents of WWTPs are systematically summarized and categorized according to geographical regions (Asia, Europe, and North America). The occurrence patterns of ECs in raw influent and treated effluents of WWTPs between geographical regions were compared and evaluated. Concentrations of most ECs in raw influent in Asian region tend to be higher than those in European and North American countries. Many antibiotics were detected in the influents and effluents of WWTPs at concentra...
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2011
The hazardous chemical contamination of untreated wastewater and secondary effluent from the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the city of Zagreb, Croatia was comprehensively characterized using large-volume solid-phase extraction (SPE) and silica gel fractionation, followed by a detailed analysis of the resulting extracts by a combination of chemical and bioassay methods. Over 100 individual contaminants or closely related-contaminant groups were identified by high-resolution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF). Ecotoxicity profiling of the investigated samples, including cytotoxicity, chronic toxicity and EROD activity; inhibition of the multixenobiotic resistance (MXR), genotoxicicity and estrogenic potential, revealed the most significant contribution of toxic compounds to be present in polar fractions. Wastewater treatment using conventional activated sludge process reduced the initial toxicity of raw wastewater to various extents, ranging from 28% for algal toxicity to 73.2% for an estrogenic activity. The most efficient toxicity removal was observed for the polar compounds.