23 research outputs found
Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in the SomeĆ River Basin, Romania
p>Abstract. The mass flows of selected pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) were studied in the aqueous compartment of the river SomeĆ in Romania. PPCPs distribution was correlated with wastewater treatment plant effluents in the receiving river water. Carbamazepine, pentoxyfylline, ibuprofen, diazepam, galaxolide, tonalide and triclosan were determined in wastewater effluents with individual concentrations up to 800 ng/L. Caffeine was measured at concentrations up to 43 000 ng/L. Due to the high contamination of WWTP effluents, the receiving river was also polluted. The most abundant PPCPs measured in the SomeĆ were caffeine, galaxolide, carbamazepine and triclosan, with concentrations ranging from 10 to 400 ng/L. The loads increased significantly after the confluence of the river Somesul Mic with the river SomeĆul Mare after Dej. The highest loads were observed for caffeine (800ndash;2400 g/d), galaxolide (410ndash;860 g/d), triclosan (200ndash;310 g/d) and carbamazepine (170ndash;240 g/d) suggesting the discharge of wastewater without proper treatment into the SomeĆ. These results show that the upgrading of the WWTPs in the River Basin is of high importance to reduce the effluent load of contaminants into the SomeĆ. This study is a first overview of PPCPs along the Romanian stretch of the SomeĆ River./p
Determination of Hydrophilic and Amphiphilic Organic Pollutants in the Aquatic Environment
Environmental chemists performing monitoring or process-oriented fate and behavior studies on organic micropollutants face the challenge of having to determine low concentrations of problem compounds in complex mixtures and difficult matrices, such as sewage sludge, surface and groundwater.
Selective extraction and enrichment help to overcome sensitivity limitations and also to reduce the number of different species in the sample. A subsequent chromatographic separation step, together with analyte-specific detection, finally allows to identify and quantify single analytes in
the presence of other organic material. This article describes a selection of analytical development work carried out at EAWAG for the determination of hydrophilic and amphiphilic organic pollutants in the aquatic environment
The Fate of Organic Pollutants in Wastewater and Sludge Treatment: Significant Processes and Impact of Compound Properties
The fate of organic pollutants during wastewater and sludge treatment is determined by three main processes: gas exchange, sorption to suspended solids, and biodegradation. The influence of these processes differs strongly depending on the physicochemical properties of the individual
compound and the particular treatment stage. For the assessment of the fate of trace pollutants in wastewater treatment, the impact of these processes must be evaluated. An acceptable removal in mechanical-biological wastewater treatment is achieved for hydrophilic compounds if they are rapidly
degradable under aerobic conditions. Substances with lipophilic or amphiphilic properties should be degradable under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in order to prevent accumulation in digested sewage sludges. This article presents recent and current investigations at EAWAG which deal with
the fate of selected organic substances in municipal wastewater and sludge treatment
Environmental context and magnitude of disturbance influence traitâmediated community responses to wastewater in streams
Human land uses and population growth represent major global threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services. Understanding how biological communities respond to multiple drivers of humanâinduced environmental change is fundamental for conserving ecosystems and remediating degraded habitats. Here, we used a replicated ârealâworld experimentâ to study the responses of invertebrate communities to wastewater perturbations across a landâuse intensity gradient in 12 Swiss streams. We used different taxonomy and traitâbased community descriptors to establish the most sensitive indicators detecting impacts and to help elucidate potential causal mechanisms of change. First, we predicted that streams in catchments adversely impacted by human landâuses would be less impaired by wastewater inputs because their invertebrate communities should be dominated by pollutionâtolerant taxa (âenvironmental contextâ). Second, we predicted that the negative effects of wastewater on stream invertebrate communities should be larger in streams that receive proportionally more wastewater (âmagnitude of disturbanceâ). In support of the âenvironmental contextâ hypothesis, we found that change in the Saprobic Index (a traitâbased indicator of tolerance to organic pollution) was associated with upstream community composition; communities in catchments with intensive agricultural land uses (e.g., arable cropping and pasture) were generally more resistant to eutrophication associated with wastewater inputs. We also found support for the âmagnitude of disturbanceâ hypothesis. The SPEAR Index (a traitâbased indicator of sensitivity to pesticides) was more sensitive to the relative input of effluent, suggesting that toxic influences of wastewater scale with dilution. Whilst freshwater pollution continues to be a major environmental problem, our findings highlight that the same anthropogenic pressure (i.e., inputs of wastewater) may induce different ecological responses depending on the environmental context and community metrics used. Thus, remediation strategies aiming to improve stream ecological status (e.g., rehabilitating degraded reaches) need to consider upstream anthropogenic influences and the most appropriate indicators of restoration success
Environmental context and magnitude of disturbance influence trait-mediated community responses to wastewater in streams
Human land uses and population growth represent major global threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services. Understanding how biological communities respond to multiple drivers of humanâinduced environmental change is fundamental for conserving ecosystems and remediating degraded habitats. Here, we used a replicated ârealâworld experimentâ to study the responses of invertebrate communities to wastewater perturbations across a landâuse intensity gradient in 12 Swiss streams. We used different taxonomy and traitâbased community descriptors to establish the most sensitive indicators detecting impacts and to help elucidate potential causal mechanisms of change. First, we predicted that streams in catchments adversely impacted by human landâuses would be less impaired by wastewater inputs because their invertebrate communities should be dominated by pollutionâtolerant taxa (âenvironmental contextâ). Second, we predicted that the negative effects of wastewater on stream invertebrate communities should be larger in streams that receive proportionally more wastewater (âmagnitude of disturbanceâ). In support of the âenvironmental contextâ hypothesis, we found that change in the Saprobic Index (a traitâbased indicator of tolerance to organic pollution) was associated with upstream community composition; communities in catchments with intensive agricultural land uses (e.g., arable cropping and pasture) were generally more resistant to eutrophication associated with wastewater inputs. We also found support for the âmagnitude of disturbanceâ hypothesis. The SPEAR Index (a traitâbased indicator of sensitivity to pesticides) was more sensitive to the relative input of effluent, suggesting that toxic influences of wastewater scale with dilution. Whilst freshwater pollution continues to be a major environmental problem, our findings highlight that the same anthropogenic pressure (i.e., inputs of wastewater) may induce different ecological responses depending on the environmental context and community metrics used. Thus, remediation strategies aiming to improve stream ecological status (e.g., rehabilitating degraded reaches) need to consider upstream anthropogenic influences and the most appropriate indicators of restoration success.ISSN:2045-775