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 …
Sulfate sensitivity of aquatic organism in soft freshwaters explored by toxicity tests and species sensitivity distribution
Elevated concentrations of sulfate in waterways are observed due to various anthropogenic activities. Elevated levels of sulfate can have harmful effects on aquatic life in freshwaters: sulfate can cause osmotic stress or specific ion toxicity in aquatic organisms, especially in soft waters where Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations are low. Formerly, chronic toxicity test data in soft water have been scarce. The chronic and acute sulfate toxicity tests conducted with aquatic organisms from 10 families across various trophic levels in this study multiplied the number of tests conducted in soft freshwater conditions and enabled derivation of the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) and sulfate haz…