Current Status and Regulatory Aspects of Pesticides Considered to be Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Taiwan

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are capable of persisting in the environment, transporting between phase media and accumulating to high levels, implying that they could pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. Consequently, most OCPs are designated as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and even as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The objective of this paper was to review the current status of pesticide POPs in Taiwan, including aldrin, chlordane, chlordecone, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, α/β-hexachlorocyclohexanes, lindane, mirex, pentachloro-benzene, and toxaphene. The information about their environmental properties, banned use, carcinogenic toxicity and environmental levels, can be connected with the regulatory infrastructure, which has been established by the joint-venture of the central competent authorities (i.e., Environmental Protection Administration, Department of Health, Council of Agriculture, and Council of Labor Affairs). The significant progress to be reported is that the residual levels of these pesticide-POPs, ranging from trace amounts to a few ppb, have declined notably in recent years

Hospital waste water: health risk for human and environment by cytostatic drug emissions? Part I: Model calculation and chemical monitoring

Meeting Abstract from the 13th Scientific Symposium of the Austrian Pharmacological Society (APHAR). Joint Meeting with the Austrian Society of Toxicology (ASTOX) and the Hungarian Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (MFT), Vienna, Austria. 2224 November 2007(VLID)90202

BMC Pharmacology / Hospital waste water: health risk for human and environment by cytostatic drug emissions? Part II: Biological monitoring (genotoxicity assays) and risk assessment

Meeting Abstract from the 13th Scientific Symposium of the Austrian Pharmacological Society (APHAR). Joint Meeting with the Austrian Society of Toxicology (ASTOX) and the Hungarian Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (MFT) Vienna, Austria. 22\u201324 November 200

Comparison of different removal techniques for selected pharmaceuticals

[EN] Recently, there is an emergence of endocrine-disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products (EDC/PPCPs) as important pollutants to remove from drinking water and reclaimed wastewater. In this work, the efficiency of removing pharmaceuticals (PCs) from model aqueous solutions and raw wastewater with ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), activated carbon adsorption (AC), biological methods (SBR) and oxidation with ClO2 was investigated. Some treatments have also been used as combined processes: UF + NF, UF +AC, SBR + ClO2. Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, Diclofenac, Sulfamethoxazole, Clonazepam, and Diazepam were selected as model compounds. In order to evaluate their removal, PC solutions were also considered at several operating conditions (pH, conductivity, concentration, and temperature), andoptimal conditions were obtained. Experiments wereperformedatusual PCconcentrations in wastewaters: 1000 ng/L for Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen, 300 ng/L for Diclofenac, Sulfamethoxazole, Clonazepam, and Diazepam. Separation was evaluated by liquid chromatography¿mass spectroscopy. Results indicated that the removal efficiency depends on their Log KOW, which is intrinsically related to their hydrophobicity and then,to their adsorption onto the surface (UF, NF, andAC).Also, NF,AC, and combined processes (UF + NF, UF +AC) were the most suitable separation techniques to obtain high removal efficiencies for most of the PCs used, except for Acetaminophen (which showed great removal efficacy using SBR). UF presented low removal yields for all PCs tested. ClO2 treatment was more effective at high concentration (50 mg ClO2/L). Furthermore, results also showed that there are significant differences on the performance of the processes applied and which treatment is the most effective for each PC analyzed. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors of this work wish to gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project CTM2013-42342-P.Vona, A.; Di Martino, F.; García-Ivars, J.; Picó, Y.; Mendoza Roca, JA.; Iborra Clar, MI. (2015). Comparison of different removal techniques for selected pharmaceuticals. Journal of Water Process Engineering. 5:48-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2014.12.011S4857

An integrated assessment of options for rural wastewater management in Austria

M. Starkl, M. Ornetzeder, E. Binner, P. Holubar, M. Pollak, M. Dorninger, F. Mascher, M. Fuerhacker and R. Haberl;Water Science & Technology, 56 (2007): 5, 105-113This paper reports a recently finished, interdisciplinary project on rural wastewater management in Austria. The objective of the project was to study alternative wastewater management options based on separation of the wastewater into its constituent parts, and to compare them with conventional ones. Thereby, a feasibility study of both conventional and alternative options for wastewater management in six model regions was carried out. Life cycle costs and social acceptance were analysed by using a case study-based assessment approach. However, hygienic and environmental risks were evaluated on a more general level. In order to complement the findings, a survey on urine separation system users in the Solar City of Linz was conducted. Based on these assessments and empirical findings, the paper concludes that options using a full separation of all wastewater fractions should be considered with care. Options based on a separation of only grey water and black water or in the liquid/solid phase can offer ecological and financial advantages over conventional options. Further, options combining wastewater management and regional biogas plants were identified as an interesting solution. However, legal constraints restrict this option currently

Bisphenol A emission factors from industrial sources and elimination rates in a sewage treatment plant

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used for the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics and is considered an endocrine disruptor. Special in vitro test systems and animal experiments showed a weak estrogenic activity. Aquatic wildlife especially could be endangered by waste water discharges. To manage possible risks arising from BPA emissions the major fluxes need to be investigated and the sources of the contamination of municipal treatment plants need to be determined. In this study, five major industrial point sources, two different household areas and the influent and effluent of the corresponding treatment plant (WWTP) were monitored simultaneously at a plant serving 120,000 population equivalents. A paper producing plant was the major BPA contributor to the influent load of the wastewater treatment plant. All the other emissions from point sources, including the two household areas, were considerably lower. The minimum elimination rate in the WTTP could be determined at 78% with an average of 89% of the total BPA-load. For a possible pollution-forecast, or for a comparison between different point sources, emission factors based on COD-emissions were calculated for industrial and household point sources at BPA/COD-ratios between 1.4 ×10−6-125×10−6 and 1.3×10−6-6.3×10−6, respectively.</jats:p

Simultaneous Adsorption of Heavy Metals from Roadway Stormwater Runoff Using Different Filter Media in Column Studies

Stormwater runoff from roadways often contains a variety of contaminants such as heavy metals, which can adversely impact receiving waters. The filter media in stormwater filtration/infiltration systems play a significant role in the simultaneous removal of multiple pollutants. In this study, the capacity of five filter media&mdash;natural quartz sand (QS), sandy soil (SS) and three mineral-based technical filter media (TF-I, TF-II and TF-III)&mdash;to adsorb heavy metals (Cu, Pb and Zn) frequently detected in stormwater, as well as remobilization due to de-icing salt (NaCl), were evaluated in column experiments. The column breakthrough data were used to predict lifespan of the filter media. Column experiment operated under high hydraulic load showed that all technical filters and sandy soil achieved &gt;97%, 94% and &gt;80% of Pb, Cu and Zn load removals, respectively, while natural quartz sand (QS) showed very poor performance. Furthermore, treatment of synthetic stormwater by the soil and technical filter media met the requirements of the Austrian regulation regarding maximum effluent concentrations and minimum removal efficiencies for groundwater protection. The results showed that application of NaCl had only a minor impact on the remobilization of heavy metals from the soil and technical filter media, while the largest release of metals was observed from the QS column. Breakthrough analysis indicated that load removal efficiencies at column exhaustion (SS, TF-I, TF-II and TF-III) were &gt;95% for Cu and Pb and 80&ndash;97% for Zn. Based on the adsorption capacities, filtration systems could be sized to 0.4 to 1% (TF-I, TF-II and TF-III) and 3.5% (SS) of their impervious catchment area and predicated lifespan of each filter media was at least 35, 36, 41 and 29 years for SS, TF-I, TF-II and TF-III, respectively. The findings of this study demonstrate that soil&mdash;based and technical filter media are effective in removing heavy metals and can be utilized in full-stormwater filtration systems