Accumulation of Contaminants in Fish from Wastewater Treatment Wetlands

Abstract

Increasing demands on water resources in arid environments make reclamation and reuse of municipal wastewater an important component of the water budget. Treatment wetlands can be an integral part of the water-reuse cycle providing both water-quality enhancement and habitat functions. When used for habitat, the bioaccumulation potential of contaminants in the wastewater is a critical consideration. Water and fish samples collected from the Tres Rios Demonstration Constructed Wetlands near Phoenix, Arizona, which uses secondary-treated wastewater to maintain an aquatic ecosystem in a desert environment, were analyzed for hydrophobic organic compounds (HOC) and trace elements. Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMD) were deployed to investigate uptake of HOC. The wetlands effectively removed HOC, and concentrations of herbicides, pesticides, and organic wastewater contaminants decreased 40-99% between inlet and outlet. Analysis of Tilapia mossambica and Gambusia affinis indicated accumulation of HOC, including p,p'-DDE and trans-nonachlor. The SPMD accumulated the HOC detected in the fish tissue as well as additional compounds. Trace-element concentrations in whole-fish tissue were highly variable, but were similar between the two species. Concentrations of HOC and trace elements varied in different fish tissue compartments, and concentrations in Tilapia liver tissue were greater than those in the whole organism or filet tissue. Bioconcentration factors for the trace elements ranged from 5 to 58,000 and for the HOC ranged from 530 to 150,000.

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in fish: Results of a national pilot study in the united states

“…However, analysis of percent lipid versus analyte concentration plots for all composites collected at each sampling site suggest no relationship between these two variables for any detected pharmaceutical. Traditional analysis of chemical residues in fish tissue suggests that hydrophobic organic contaminants will concentrate in tissues with high lipid content [35–38]. Such rationalization is based on a collection of studies demonstrating a correlation between experimentally derived bioconcentration factors and analyte‐specific physicochemical properties, most commonly the log K OW .…”

Occurrence, removal and environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in rural wastewater treatment wetlands

“…As for triclosan, its behavior in CWs has been investigated in SF-CWs, hybrid-CW and VF-CWs. Barber et al (2006) found that the highest removal efficiency (29%) was obtained in winter and the lowest removal efficiency (−6%) in summer in a SF-CW treating secondary effluent in Arizona. On the other hand, Matamoros and Salvado (2012) observed the removal of triclosan about 74-93% with highest removal in summer in a full-scale reclamation pond-wetland system.…”

Applications for Passive Sampling of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants in Water—A Review

“…Most studies investigated municipal wastewater treatment. Here, passive sampling was used to monitor concentrations of HOCs before and after primary, secondary and advanced treatment processes, including alongside biota, active sampling and numerical simulations [127][128][129][130][131][132][133].…”