wastewater monitoring Dotaz Zobrazit nápovědu
Epidemie onemocnění COVID-19 a s ním související sledování jeho původce v odpadních vodách vedly k mimořádnému rozvoji monitorování či surveillance odpadních vod. Využití této surveillance už dnes nespočívá jen ve sledování viru či jiného infekčního agens, ale ve sledování řady chemických látek a metabolitů, ze kterých lze usuzovat na zdravotní stav, chování a dokonce i socioekonomický status sledované populace. Tento druh výzkumu a především zveřejňování jeho výsledků, které se svou povahou blíží citlivým osobním údajům nebo mohou stigmatizovat různé skupiny obyvatel, přitom dnes nemá jasný právní a etický rámec, což by mělo být urychleně napraveno.
The COVID-19 epidemic and associated monitoring of its causative agent in wastewater has led to an exceptional development of wastewater surveillance. This surveillance no longer entails mere monitoring of viruses or other infectious agents, but comprises examination of a number of chemicals and metabolites from which the health condition, behaviour, and indeed the socioeconomic status of a monitored population can be discerned. This type of research, which by its nature deals with sensitive personal data or may stigmatise various population groups does not currently have a clear legal and ethical framework. The situation should be rapidly remedied.
In situ extraction of steroid hormones from waste water using adsorption-based integrative passive samplers represents a promising approach for their monitoring in water at ultra-trace concentrations. Three passive samplers, namely a POCIS, a Chemcatcher fitted with an Empore SDB-RPS disk, and an Empore SDB-RPS disk-based sampler with enhanced water flow, were calibrated in situ in treated municipal wastewater for the purpose of monitoring five estrogens (17-β-estradiol, 17-α-estradiol, 17-α-ethinylestradiol, estrone and estriol) at sub ng per litre concentrations. Uptake of steroids to samplers during 14-day exposure in wastewater was compared with steroid concentrations in daily collected composite water samples. Sampling rates were obtained from a numerical solution of first order uptake kinetics equations describing the uptake of compounds into a passive sampler over time. Mass transfer of steroids in the Chemcatcher fitted with naked Empore disks was more than two times faster than in the POCIS sampler. The uptake capacity of the applied Empore disk was not sufficient for integrative uptake of all tested steroids during the entire 14-day exposure. Time-weighted average concentrations of steroids estimated at concentrations in units of ngL-1using the in situ-calibrated samplers were within a factor of two from values obtained using composite water samples.
A pan-European monitoring campaign of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents was conducted to obtain a concise picture on a broad range of pollutants including estrogenic compounds. Snapshot samples from 75 WWTP effluents were collected and analysed for concentrations of 150 polar organic and 20 inorganic compounds as well as estrogenicity using the MVLN reporter gene assay. The effect-based assessment determined estrogenicity in 27 of 75 samples tested with the concentrations ranging from 0.53 to 17.9 ng/L of 17-beta-estradiol equivalents (EEQ). Approximately one third of municipal WWTP effluents contained EEQ greater than 0.5 ng/L EEQ, which confirmed the importance of cities as the major contamination source. Beside municipal WWTPs, some treated industrial wastewaters also exhibited detectable EEQ, indicating the importance to investigate phytoestrogens released from plant processing factories. No steroid estrogens were detected in any of the samples by instrumental methods above their limits of quantification of 10 ng/L, and none of the other analysed classes of chemicals showed correlation with detected EEQs. The study demonstrates the need of effect-based monitoring to assess certain classes of contaminants such as estrogens, which are known to occur at low concentrations being of serious toxicological concern for aquatic biota.
- MeSH
- biotest MeSH
- chemické látky znečišťující vodu analýza MeSH
- estrogeny analýza MeSH
- monitorování životního prostředí metody statistika a číselné údaje MeSH
- odpad tekutý - odstraňování metody MeSH
- odpadní voda chemie MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Evropa MeSH
The consumption of alcohol in a population is usually monitored through individual questionnaires, forensics, and toxicological data. However, consumption estimates have some biases, mainly due to the accumulation of alcohol stocks. This study's objective was to assess alcohol consumption in Slovakia during the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown using wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Samples of municipal wastewater were collected from three Slovak cities during the lockdown and during a successive period with lifted restrictions in 2020. The study included about 14% of the Slovak population. The urinary alcohol biomarker, ethyl sulfate (EtS), was analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). EtS concentrations were used to estimate the per capita alcohol consumption in each city. The average alcohol consumption in the selected cities in 2020 ranged between 2.1 and 327 L/day/1000 inhabitants and increased during days with weaker restrictions. WBE can provide timely information on alcohol consumption at the community level, complementing epidemiology-based monitoring techniques (e.g., population surveys and sales statistics).
- MeSH
- chromatografie kapalinová metody MeSH
- COVID-19 * epidemiologie MeSH
- epidemiologie odpadních vod * MeSH
- ethanol analýza MeSH
- kontrola infekčních nemocí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- pandemie MeSH
- pití alkoholu epidemiologie MeSH
- tandemová hmotnostní spektrometrie metody MeSH
- velkoměsta MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Slovenská republika MeSH
- velkoměsta MeSH
Outflows from secondary stages of conventional me-chanical-biological wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) still contain significant concentrations of faecal pollution indicators suggesting the potential presence of pathogenic organisms. The decrease in the concentration of somatic coliphages and bacterial indicators of faecal pollution during the technological stages (coagulation, sand filtra-tion, membrane ultrafiltration, sorption on granular acti-vated carbon, disinfection, accumulation) of a semi-operational plant designed for multi-stage tertiary treat-ment or rather recycling of treated wastewater was moni-tored and discussed. During the tertiary treatment, faecal bacteria indicators were better removed than somatic coliphages, hence the inclusion of somatic indicators among faecal pollution indicators in water quality control for reuse is entirely appropriate. Subsequent tertiary treat-ment, including disinfection, is essential for safe reuse of treated water.
In combined wastewater collection systems, the concentrations of metals and the form of metal occurrence (dissolved form and bonding of metals to total suspended solids) influence the efficiency of capturing metals into sludge in wastewater treatment plants. The variability of metal concentrations was determined for 12 sampling sites during dry weather periods (DWP) and wet weather periods (WWP). Wastewater during DWP contain in dissolved form 77% of cadmium, 75% of nickel, 66% of arsenic, 57% of manganese and 50% of zinc and copper. Other metals are preferably bound to suspended particulates: 65% of chromium, iron, vanadium, mercury and 91% of lead. Comparison of metal concentrations in wastewater during DWP and WWP can be used to determine non-point source contributions. During WWP, metal concentrations increase by 24 to 25% for cadmium and zinc, 22% for nickel and 18% for copper. Urine and feces are responsible for a very small portion (<15%) of the total content of metals. Households are the main source of cadmium and copper (64% of total concentrations of these metals in wastewater).
- MeSH
- čištění vody metody MeSH
- monitorování životního prostředí metody MeSH
- odpadní voda chemie MeSH
- odpadní vody chemie MeSH
- suspenze MeSH
- těžké kovy analýza MeSH
- velikost částic MeSH
- velkoměsta MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Česká republika MeSH
- velkoměsta MeSH
Wastewater, especially containing hospital effluents, exhibits high chemical complexity and specificity since it includes various chemicals, biocides, pharmaceuticals, surfactants, radionuclides, disinfectants and pathogens. Biological tests provide true evidence of the wastewater quality and unlike chemical analytical tests show comprehensive pollution effects on the environment and human health. Normalized conventional bioassays are not sensitive enough for ecotoxicological evaluation of wastewater and there is a great need for the development of suitable sensitive bioassays in order to characterize properly the residual toxicity of treated effluents. Provisions of binding EU legislation regarding protection of animals used for scientific purposes and legislation dealing with test methods for identification and classification of health hazard of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biocides, medical devices and consumer products such as cosmetics for environmental ecosystems and for man require to employ alternative toxicological methods respecting the 3Rs concept with priority given to methods in vitro. The Fish Embryo Test (FET) is identified as a relevant, reliable and efficient alternative test method in vitro for determination of acute toxicity for fish. Using the FET, additional toxicological endpoints may be investigated to assess organ specific bioaccumulation, genotoxicity and mutagenicity, developmental toxicity, teratogenicity, various forms of neurotoxicity or endocrine disruptivity. The addition of multiparametric sensitive endpoints makes the FET a true alternative in vitro assay and a powerful tool in toxicology.
- MeSH
- biotest metody MeSH
- chemické látky znečišťující vodu toxicita MeSH
- monitorování životního prostředí MeSH
- odpadní voda toxicita MeSH
- ryby MeSH
- testy toxicity metody MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
Wastewater samples from a Swedish chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp (CTMP) mill collected at different purification stages in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) were analyzed with an amperometric enzyme-based biosensor array in a flow-injection system. In order to resolve the complex composition of the wastewater, the array consists of several sensing elements which yield a multidimensional response. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to decompose the array's responses, and found that wastewater with different degrees of pollution can be differentiated. With the help of partial least squares regression (PLS-R), we could link the sensor responses to the Microtox® toxicity parameter, as well as to global organic pollution parameters (COD, BOD, and TOC). From investigating the influences of individual sensors in the array, it was found that the best models were in most cases obtained when all sensors in the array were included in the PLS-R model. We find that fast simultaneous determination of several global environmental parameters characterizing wastewaters is possible with this kind of biosensor array, in particular because of the link between the sensor responses and the biological effect onto the ecosystem into which the wastewater would be released. In conjunction with multivariate data analysis tools, there is strong potential to reduce the total time until a result is yielded from days to a few minutes.
Produced water (PW) represents the largest volume waste stream in oil and gas production operations from most offshore platforms. PW is difficult to monitor as releases are rapidly diluted and concentrations can reach trace levels. The use of passive samplers can over come this. Here polyethylene (PE) was calibrated for a diverse range of PW pollutants. Zebrafish were exposed to dilutions of PW and passive sampler extracts in order to investigate the relationship between freely dissolved chemical concentrations and acute toxic effects. The raw PW had an LC50 of 13% (percentage of PW in the standardized zebrafish medium). Observed non-viable deformations to embryos (at 5 hpf) included heart and yolk edema, head, spine and tail deformations. The dose-response relationship of lethal effects showed that if 0.0041 g of PE is exposed to this PW, then extracted, 50% of exposed D. rerio will suffer lethal effects. The sum of tested freely dissolved concentrations that led to 50% lethal effects (mortality and non-viable deformations) was 2.32 × 10-4 mg/L for PW and 7.92 × 10-2 mg/L for PE. This implies that exposure to raw PW was more toxic than exposure to PE extracts. This toxicity was attributed both to the presence of contaminants as well as PW salinity. Passive samplers are able to detect very low freely dissolved pollutant concentrations which is important for assessing the spatial dilution of PW releases. Bioassays provide complimentary information as they account for all toxic compounds including those that are not taken up by passive samplers.
The occurrence of chemical and biological contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) was investigated in treated wastewater intended for reuse in agriculture. An agarose hydrogel diffusion-based passive sampler was exposed to the outlet of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in Cyprus, which is equipped with membrane bioreactor (MBR). Passive samplers in triplicate were exposed according to a time-series exposure plan with maximum exposure duration of 28 days. Composite flow-proportional wastewater samples were collected in parallel with the passive sampling exposure plan and were processed by solid phase extraction using HORIZON SPE-DEX 4790 and the same sorbent material (Oasis HLB) as in the passive sampler. The analysis of passive samplers and wastewater samples enabled (i) the field-scale calibration of the passive sampler prototype by the calculation of in situ sampling rates of target substances, and (ii) the investigation of in silico predicted transformation products of the four most ecotoxicologically hazardous antibiotics (azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin, ofloxacin). Additionally, the wastewater samples were subjected to the analysis of seven preselected antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) and one mobile resistant element (int1). All extracts were analyzed for chemicals in a single batch using a highly sensitive method for pharmaceuticals, antibiotics and illicit drugs by liquid chromatography tandem MS/MS (LC-QQQ) and for various other target compounds (2316 compounds in total) by liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). 279 CECs and all investigated ARGs (except for blaCTX-M-32) were detected, highlighting potential chemical and biological hazards related to wastewater reuse practices. 16 CECs were prioritized following ecotoxicological risk assessment, whereas sul1 and the mobile resistant element (int1) showed the highest abundance. Comprehensive monitoring efforts using novel sampling methods such as passive sampling, wide-scope target screening and molecular analysis are required to assure safe application of wastewater reuse and avoid spread and crop uptake of potentially hazardous chemicals.
