https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/33344/4/A%20review%20on%20the%20occurrence%20of%20micropollutants%20in%20the%20aquatic%20environment%20and%20their%20fate%20and%20removal%20during%20wastewater%20treatment.pdf

A review on the occurrence of micropollutants in the aquatic environment and their fate and removal during wastewater treatment

Emerging pollutants in wastewater: a review of the literature

Phthalate esters in the environment: A critical review of their occurrence, biodegradation, and removal during wastewater treatment processes.

The presence of emerging micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, personal care products, nanomaterials and perfluorinated substances in the environment remains a great threat to the health and safety of humans and aquatic species. These micropollutants enter the environment via anthropogenic activities and have been detected in surface water, groundwater and even drinking water at nanogram per litre to microgram per litre concentration. To date, limited information exists on the fate, behaviours, and pathways of these micropollutants in the environment. The potential ecotoxicological effects on the receptors due to exposure to individual or mixture of these chemicals still remain unknown. This review provides an overview on pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, personal care products, nanomaterials and perfluorinated pollutants, with emphasis on their occurrences, effects, environmental fates, and potential risk of exposure in water, soil or sediment. Based on the literature survey, it was found that in spite of an extensive research and different developmental efforts on the challenges of emerging micropollutants, the solution to the problem of emerging micropollutants in the environment is far from being solved. The needs for behavioural change among citizens, strong political will and policy formulation on the part of government are identified as possible panacea for combating the growing influence of these potential damaging substances. Suggestions on proactive and precautionary measures that must be taken to protect the environment as well as guarantee the health and safety of humans and aquatic species are provided. Future research should concentrate on the development of a risk based screening models and framework that can predict the sources, fate and behaviours of emerging contaminants in the environment is recommended.

Pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, personal care products, nanomaterials and perfluorinated pollutants: a review

Municipal wastewaters are contaminated by a wide range of chemicals, from surfactants to heavy metals, including pharmaceutical residues, personal care products, various household chemicals, and biocides/pesticides. Their release into the environment, where they may generate adverse effects on aquatic organisms, depends on their fate in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The sources, the typical concentrations and the fate of more than 160 micropollutants of various classes in conventional WWTPs, were investigated in order to estimate surface water contamination, risks for aquatic organisms, and to propose means to reduce their release into the environment. Relatively hydrophobic pollutants such as heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), brominated flame retardants, and several personal care products (PCPs), as well as easily biodegradable pollutants such as surfactants, plastic additives, hormones, several PCPs, some pharmaceuticals, and household chemicals, are usually well removed (>70%) in WWTPs, either by sorption onto sewage sludge or by biodegradation. Good removal efficiencies, however, do not mean that the effluent concentrations will not potentially affect aquatic life, as some of these compounds are toxic at very low concentrations. More hydrophilic and poorly-to-moderately biodegradable pollutants such as several pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and household chemicals (corrosion inhibitors, sweeteners, chelating agents, phosphorus flame retardants) are only poorly removed during treatments. To decrease their discharge into surface waters, source control combined to advanced treatments such as ozonation and adsorption onto activated carbon are necessary.

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A review of the fate of micropollutants in wastewater treatment plants

Occurrence of phthalates in surface runoff, untreated and treated wastewater and fate during wastewater treatment.

Identification of relevant micropollutants in Austrian municipal wastewater and their behaviour during wastewater treatment

Mountainous catchments are usually not in focus of the modelling of nutrient fluxes on catchment scale. Out of 9 model approaches tested in the EU-project EUROHARP only MONERIS claims to be capable of modelling nitrogen and phosphorus emissions in a landscape with mountainous slope. Results derived in the present study indicate that the MONERIS 2.14 model in its current version is not able to reproduce the measured nutrient loads in rivers from alpine catchments in Austria with a size of 70 to 400 km2. Despite this apparent limitation, MONERIS delivers a framework flexible enough to offer the possibility for the introduction of adaptations to regions that had not been a focus during its development. Significant improvements in model performance have been achieved during this study with relatively simple adaptations: (i) calibration a snowmelt constants, (ii) adaptation of the nitrogen balance for open and naturally covered areas, (iii) adaptation of the denitrification approach for groundwater of solid rock areas with low nitrogen surplus and high amount of leakage water, (iv) introduction of the differentiation of area-specific suspended solids emission factors for mountainous open areas covered either with glaciers or not, (v) definition of new input parameters for phosphorus concentrations in solid limestone and schist/gneiss rocks and of dissolved phosphorus concentrations in surface runoff and groundwater flow for mountainous areas. (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Enhancement of the MONERIS Model for Application in Alpine Catchments in Austria

Das empirische Nahrstoff-Emissionsmodell MONERIS wurde fur eine Aktualisierung der Abschatzung der Stickstoff- und Phosphoremissionen in die Fliesgewasser Osterreichs genutzt. Um die spezifischen osterreichischen Verhaltnisse bestmoglich abbilden zu konnen, war es erforderlich, ausgewahlte Berechnungsansatze des Modells zu modifizieren. Dadurch konnte ein deutlich verbesserter Abgleich zwischen den gemessenen und den berechneten Stickstoff- und Phosphorfrachten in den Fliesgewassern erreicht werden. Mit den modifizierten Ansatzen wurden fur den Referenzzeitraum 2001-2006 die Gesamt-Stickstoff- und -Phosphoremissionen in die Fliesgewasser Osterreichs berechnet. Unter Berucksichtigung von gewasserinternen Retentions- prozessen wurden die N- und P-Frachten in den Fliesgewassern berechnet. Die berechneten Frachten wurden durch eine Erweiterung der Modellansatze in 90 %-Perzentile der NO3-N und PO4-P-Konzentrationen umgerechnet und den typspezifischen Richtwerten fur den guten okologischen Zustand (festgelegt in der Qualitatszielverordnung Okologie Oberflachengewasser) gegenubergestellt. Ein Vergleich mit den Ergebnissen der Risikoanalyse des Nationalen Gewasserbewirtschaftungsplans NGP 2009 (BMLFUW 2009a) ergab eine gute Ubereinstimmung mit den Gewassern, fur die auf Grund erhohter Nahrstoffbelastungen ein Risiko besteht, den guten okologischen Zustand nicht zu erreichen. Szenarienberechnungen zeigen, dass zum Schutz lokaler Gewasser in erster Linie bei Verminderung von diffusen Emissionen aus dem Bereich der Landwirtschaft anzusetzen ist. Erhohte Anforderungen an Punktquellen konnen hier hochstens in Einzelfallen zu einer Verbesserung der Situation beitragen. Zur Reduktion des Nahrstofftransportes in die Meere hat eine weitere Verscharfung der Emissionsanforderungen an die Punktquellen (neben Masnahmen in der Landwirtschaft) eine Wirksamkeit hinsichtlich der Reduktion der Frachten etwa 10 % fur Stickstoff bzw. 15 % fur Phosphor. Die Modellierung von Nahrstoff emissionen und – immissionen in Osterreich konnte auch genutzt werden, um fur die Szenarien des Projektes "Gesunde Ernahrung und Nachhaltigkeit" (GERN) Nahrstoffemissionen, Gewasserfrachten und Gewasserkonzentrationen zu berechnen.

Stickstoff- und Phosphorbelastungen der Fließgewässer Österreichs und Möglichkeiten zu deren Reduktion

Corrigendum to “Occurrence of phthalates in surface runoff, untreated and treated wastewater and fate during wastewater treatment” by M. Clara et al. [Chemosphere 78(9) 1078–1084]

G. Windhofer

Papers

Occurrence of phthalates in surface runoff, untreated and treated wastewater and fate during wastewater treatment.

Identification of relevant micropollutants in Austrian municipal wastewater and their behaviour during wastewater treatment

Enhancement of the MONERIS Model for Application in Alpine Catchments in Austria

Stickstoff- und Phosphorbelastungen der Fließgewässer Österreichs und Möglichkeiten zu deren Reduktion

Corrigendum to “Occurrence of phthalates in surface runoff, untreated and treated wastewater and fate during wastewater treatment” by M. Clara et al. [Chemosphere 78(9) 1078–1084]