0000000000360069
AUTHOR
Heidi Ahkola
Refractory organic pollutants and toxicity in pulp and paper mill wastewaters
This review describes medium and high molecular weight organic material found in wastewaters from pulp and paper industry. The aim is to review the versatile pollutants and the analysis methods for their determination. Among other pollutants, biocides, extractives, and lignin-derived compounds are major contributors to harmful effects, such as toxicity, of industrial wastewaters. Toxicity of wastewaters from pulp and paper mills is briefly evaluated including the methods for toxicity analyses. Traditionally, wastewater purification includes mechanical treatment followed by chemical and/or biological treatment processes. A variety of methods are available for the purification of industrial w…
Passive sampling in monitoring of nonylphenol ethoxylates and nonylphenol in aquatic environments
The present practices for determining the concentration levels of various pollutants are in many respects insufficient and for this reason, there is an urgent need especially to develop more cost-effective sampling methods. In this study, a novel passive sampling tool (the Chemcatcher®) for monitoring nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEOs) and nonylphenol (NP) in aqueous media was tested. These environmentally harmful substances have been widely used in different household and industrial applications and they affect aquatic ecosystems, for example, by acting as endocrine disrupting compounds. The highest accumulation of NPEOs and NP in laboratory-scale tests was obtained when using an SDB-XC (stan…
Analysis of Trace Pharmaceuticals and Related Compounds in Municipal Wastewaters by Preconcentration, Chromatography, Derivatization, and Separation Methods
A significant portion of pharmaceuticals and other organic chemicals consumed by people and animals are released into municipal wastewater treatment plants. Most of them are degraded during the wastewater treatment processes, but some of them degrade only partially and may be widely transported and dispersed into the aquatic environment. This is why efficient and fast analytical methods are needed for detection of organic compounds in wastewaters at trace levels. Because wastewaters often consist of complex matrices and high-molecular mass materials, e.g., lignocellulosic biomass, which may bring challenges to the sample preparation procedures, efficient pre-concentration methods such as so…
A preliminary study on the ecotoxic potency of wastewater treatment plant sludge combining passive sampling and bioassays.
Highlights • The passive samplers collected bioavail able and bioaccessible chemicals from the WWTP sludge samples. • The sampler extracts were acutely and chronically toxic to water flea. • The sampler extracts were cytotoxic and genotoxic. • The sludge treatment such as composting and digesting diminished the toxicity. • Effect-based methods should be part of the risk assessment of sludge recycling. Sewage sludge is an inevitable byproduct produced in wastewater treatment. Reusing nutrient-rich sludge will diminish the amount of waste ending in soil dumping areas and will promote circular economy. However, during sewage treatment process, several potentially harmful organic chemicals are …
Pharmaceuticals in processing of municipal sewage sludge studied by grab and passive sampling
Abstract Concentrations of pharmaceuticals, consisting of four anti-inflammatory and one antiepileptic drug, were studied in the aqueous and solid phase of municipal sewage sludge, collected from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in central Finland. The samples included untreated municipal sludge from the biological wastewater treatment, digested sludge and sludge before and after composting. First, samples were taken as grab samples to study the bioavailable part in aqueous phase but also the part in solid fraction. Later, the long-term concentrations were studied by passive sampling with styrene divinylbenzene-reverse phase sulfonated (SDB-RPS) disks. In the untreated solid sludge, the …
Evaluation of biodegradation of nonylphenol ethoxylate and lignin by combining toxicity assessment and chemical characterization.
Abstract The aerobic biodegradation of commercial nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) mixture and alkali lignin was studied using the OECD headspace test accompanied by the simultaneous measurement of ecotoxicity directly from the biodegradation liquors and by the follow-up of the chemical composition of the studied chemicals. NPE degradation was dependent on the inoculum source: approximately 40% of NPE was mineralized into CO2 during the 4-week experiment when inoculum from Helsinki City wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was used, and only 12% was mineralized when inoculum from Jyvaskyla City WWTP was used. Chemical analyses revealed a shift in the ethoxylate chain length from longer to shorter …