The presence of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in water systems has been recognized as a potential source of risk for human health and the ecosystem. The present paper aims at evaluating the effects of different characteristics of full-scale Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) on the removal of 14 selected CECs belonging to the classes of caffeine, illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals. Particularly, the investigated plants differed because of the treatment lay-out, the type of biological process, the value of the operating parameters, the fate of the treated effluent (i.e. release into surface water or reuse), and the treatment capacity. The activity consisted of measuring concentrations of the selected CECs and also traditional water quality parameters (i.e. COD, phosphorous, nitrogen species and TSS) in the influent and effluent of 8 plants. The study highlights that biodegradable CECs (cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, benzoylecgonine, 11-nor-9carboxy-Δ9-THC, lincomycin, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadiazine, sulfadimethoxine, carbamazepine, ketoprofen, warfarin and caffeine) were well removed by all the WWTPs, with the best performance achieved by the MBR for antibiotics. Carbamazepine was removed at the lowest extent by all the WWTPs. The environmental risk assessed by using the site-specific value of the dilution factor resulted to be high in 3 out of 8 WWTPs for carbamazepine and less frequently for caffeine. However, the risk was reduced when the dilution factor was assumed equal to the default value of 10 as proposed by EU guidelines. Therefore, a specific determination of this factor is needed taking into account the hydraulic characteristics of the receiving water body
A step forward on site-specific environmental risk assessment and insight into the main influencing factors of CECs removal from wastewater / DI MARCANTONIO, Camilla; Chiavola, Agostina; Gioia, Valentina; Leoni, Simone; Cecchini, Giancarlo; Frugis, Alessandro; Ceci, Claudia; Spizzirri, Massimo; Boni, Maria Rosaria. - In: JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT. - ISSN 0301-4797. - 325:(2023). [10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116541]
A step forward on site-specific environmental risk assessment and insight into the main influencing factors of CECs removal from wastewater
Camilla Di Marcantonio
;Agostina Chiavola;Maria Rosaria Boni
2023
Abstract
The presence of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in water systems has been recognized as a potential source of risk for human health and the ecosystem. The present paper aims at evaluating the effects of different characteristics of full-scale Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) on the removal of 14 selected CECs belonging to the classes of caffeine, illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals. Particularly, the investigated plants differed because of the treatment lay-out, the type of biological process, the value of the operating parameters, the fate of the treated effluent (i.e. release into surface water or reuse), and the treatment capacity. The activity consisted of measuring concentrations of the selected CECs and also traditional water quality parameters (i.e. COD, phosphorous, nitrogen species and TSS) in the influent and effluent of 8 plants. The study highlights that biodegradable CECs (cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, benzoylecgonine, 11-nor-9carboxy-Δ9-THC, lincomycin, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadiazine, sulfadimethoxine, carbamazepine, ketoprofen, warfarin and caffeine) were well removed by all the WWTPs, with the best performance achieved by the MBR for antibiotics. Carbamazepine was removed at the lowest extent by all the WWTPs. The environmental risk assessed by using the site-specific value of the dilution factor resulted to be high in 3 out of 8 WWTPs for carbamazepine and less frequently for caffeine. However, the risk was reduced when the dilution factor was assumed equal to the default value of 10 as proposed by EU guidelines. Therefore, a specific determination of this factor is needed taking into account the hydraulic characteristics of the receiving water bodyFile | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
Di Marcantonio_A-step-forward-on-site-specific_2022.pdf
Open Access dal 28/10/2024
Note: articolo
Tipologia:
Versione editoriale (versione pubblicata con il layout dell'editore)
Licenza:
Creative commons
Dimensione
3.59 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
3.59 MB | Adobe PDF | |
DiMarcantonio_A-step-forward-on-site-specific_2022.pdf
accesso aperto
Note: pre-proof
Tipologia:
Documento in Pre-print (manoscritto inviato all'editore, precedente alla peer review)
Licenza:
Tutti i diritti riservati (All rights reserved)
Dimensione
6.33 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
6.33 MB | Adobe PDF |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.