TY - JOUR
T1 - Occurrence and fate of emerging trace organic chemicals in wastewater plants in Chennai, India
AU - Anumol, Tarun
AU - Vijayanandan, Arya
AU - Park, Minkyu
AU - Philip, Ligy
AU - Snyder, Shane A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Justin Habit and Theresa Nelson at the University of Arizona for assistance in data collection and analysis. The authors also acknowledge Agilent Technologies for their assistance in instrument setup and technical assistance. We also would like to thank the members of EWRE division at IIT-M for their cooperation and support during the monitoring campaigns. Appendix A
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - The presence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides and industrial contaminants collectively termed as trace organic compounds (TOrCs) in wastewater has been well-documented in USA, Europe, China and other regions. However, data from India, the second most populous country in the world is severely lacking. This study investigated the occurrence and concentrations of twenty-two indicator TOrCs at three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in South India serving diverse communities across three sampling campaigns. Samples were collected after each WWTP treatment unit and removal efficiencies for TOrCs were determined. Eleven TOrCs were detected in every sample from every location at all sites, while only five TOrCs were detected consistently in effluent samples. Caffeine was present at greatest concentration in the influent of all three plants with average concentrations ranging between 56 and 65 μg/L. In contrast, the x-ray contrast media pharmaceutical, iohexol, was the highest detected compound on average in the effluent at all three WWTPs (2.1-8.7 μg/L). TOrCs were not completely removed in the WWTPs with removal efficiencies being compound specific and most of the attenuation being attributed to the biological treatment processes. Caffeine and triclocarban were well removed (>. 80%), while other compounds were poorly removed (acesulfame, sucralose, iohexol) or maybe even formed (carbamazepine) within the WWTPs. The effluent composition of the 22 TOrCs were similar within the three WWTPs but quite different to those seen in the US, indicating the importance of region-specific monitoring. Diurnal trends indicated that variability is compound specific but trended within certain classes of compounds (artificial sweeteners, and pharmaceuticals). The data collected on TOrCs from this study can be used as a baseline to identify potential remediation and regulatory strategies in this understudied region of India.
AB - The presence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides and industrial contaminants collectively termed as trace organic compounds (TOrCs) in wastewater has been well-documented in USA, Europe, China and other regions. However, data from India, the second most populous country in the world is severely lacking. This study investigated the occurrence and concentrations of twenty-two indicator TOrCs at three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in South India serving diverse communities across three sampling campaigns. Samples were collected after each WWTP treatment unit and removal efficiencies for TOrCs were determined. Eleven TOrCs were detected in every sample from every location at all sites, while only five TOrCs were detected consistently in effluent samples. Caffeine was present at greatest concentration in the influent of all three plants with average concentrations ranging between 56 and 65 μg/L. In contrast, the x-ray contrast media pharmaceutical, iohexol, was the highest detected compound on average in the effluent at all three WWTPs (2.1-8.7 μg/L). TOrCs were not completely removed in the WWTPs with removal efficiencies being compound specific and most of the attenuation being attributed to the biological treatment processes. Caffeine and triclocarban were well removed (>. 80%), while other compounds were poorly removed (acesulfame, sucralose, iohexol) or maybe even formed (carbamazepine) within the WWTPs. The effluent composition of the 22 TOrCs were similar within the three WWTPs but quite different to those seen in the US, indicating the importance of region-specific monitoring. Diurnal trends indicated that variability is compound specific but trended within certain classes of compounds (artificial sweeteners, and pharmaceuticals). The data collected on TOrCs from this study can be used as a baseline to identify potential remediation and regulatory strategies in this understudied region of India.
KW - Emerging contaminants
KW - India
KW - Indicator chemicals
KW - Pharmaceuticals
KW - Tracers
KW - Wastewater treatment
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2016.03.022
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2016.03.022
M3 - Article
C2 - 27054837
AN - SCOPUS:84963701123
SN - 0160-4120
VL - 92-93
SP - 33
EP - 42
JO - Environment international
JF - Environment international
ER -