Persistence and Potential Effects of Complex Organic Contaminant Mixtures in Wastewater-Impacted Streams

Abstract

Natural and synthetic organic contaminants in municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents can cause ecosystem impacts, raising concerns about their persistence in receiving streams. In this study, Lagrangian sampling, in which the same approximate parcel of water is tracked as it moves downstream, was conducted at Boulder Creek, Colorado and Fourmile Creek, Iowa to determine in-stream transport and attenuation of organic contaminants discharged from two secondary WWTPs. Similar stream reaches were evaluated, and samples were collected at multiple sites during summer and spring hydrologic conditions. Travel times to the most downstream (7.4 km) site in Boulder Creek were 6.2 h during the summer and 9.3 h during the spring, and to the Fourmile Creek 8.4 km downstream site times were 18 and 8.8 h, respectively. Discharge was measured at each site, and integrated composite samples were collected and analyzed for >200 organic contaminants including metal complexing agents, nonionic surfactant degradates, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, steroidal hormones, and pesticides. The highest concentration (>100 μg L(-1)) compounds detected in both WWTP effluents were ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and 4-nonylphenolethoxycarboxylate oligomers, both of which persisted for at least 7 km downstream from the WWTPs. Concentrations of pharmaceuticals were lower (<1 μg L(-1)), and several compounds, including carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole, were detected throughout the study reaches. After accounting for in-stream dilution, a complex mixture of contaminants showed little attenuation and was persistent in the receiving streams at concentrations with potential ecosystem implications.

Pre/post-closure assessment of groundwater pharmaceutical fate in a wastewater-facility-impacted stream reach

“…1) were described in detail previously (Barber et al, 2013;Barber et al, 2011;. In brief, the study reach extended from approximately 80 m upstream to approximately 20 m downstream of the Ankeny WWTF outfall .…”

“…Pharmaceuticals are of particular concern due to: 1) relative solubility and high mobility in aqueous environments compared with many other wastewater contaminants; 2) designed high bioactivities and biorecalcitrance; and 3) a wide range of potential ecological endpoints including, toxicity (Han et al, 2006;Oliveira et al, 2015;Quinn et al, 2008;Rosi-Marshall et al, 2013;Xie et al, 2016), endocrine disruption (Kidd et al, 2007;Niemuth et al, 2015;Painter et al, 2009;Vajda et al, 2008), immuno-modulation (Canesi et al, 2007;Gust et al, 2013), antibiotic resistance selection (Haack et al, 2012;Martinez, 2009), as well as cytotoxicity and mutagenesis (Buerge et al, 2006;Johnson et al, 2008). Downstream transport and fate of wastewater contaminants including pharmaceuticals are intensively studied in fluvial systems (see for example, Acuña et al, 2015;Barber et al, 2013;Bradley et al, 2009;Bradley et al, 2007;Bradley and Journey, 2014;Brown et al, 2009;Dong et al, 2015;Fono et al, 2006;Kunkel and Radke, 2011;Lin et al, 2006;Radke et al, 2010;Writer et al, 2012). Surface-water/groundwater contaminant exchange and the fate of surface-water-derived groundwater contaminants, however, are poorly understood in comparison; a critical scientific data gap given the global importance of subsurface freshwater supplies (Oelkers et al, 2011;Schwartz and Ibaraki, 2011;U.S.…”

Integrated assessment of wastewater treatment plant effluent estrogenicity in the Upper Murray River, Australia, using the native Murray rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis)

“…Globally, aquatic ecosystems have been impacted by endocrine-active chemicals (EACs) derived from the discharge of municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents [1][2][3][4][5]s Endocrine-active chemicals in aquatic ecosystems can affect the viability of native fish populations [6,7] and have implications for drinking water users downstream from WWTP effluent discharge points [8]. The distribution of WWTP pointsource discharges in the environment is heterogeneous, and the impact on a particular stream segment is influenced by treatment technology and in-stream dilution [9].…”

“…A diversity of EACs is associated with WWTP effluents, which can include natural steroidal estrogens (e.g., 17b-estradiol), phytoestrogens (e.g., genistein), mycotoxins (e.g., a-zearalanol), synthetic steroidal estrogens (e.g., 17a-ethinylestradiol), and non-steroidal contaminants with estrogenic activity such as plasticizers (e.g., bisphenol A) and surfactant metabolites (e.g., 4-nonylphenol) [5,[12][13][14][15]. Other biologically active compounds, such as neuro-active pharmaceuticals and antimicrobials, and diverse nonestrogenic EACs also occur in WWTP effluents and contribute to the complex contaminant mixtures that may interfere with the development, physiology, and behavior of fishes [7,[16][17][18][19] and other aquatic organisms [20,21] inhabiting WWTP effluentimpacted surface waters.…”

Assessing variation in the potential susceptibility of fish to pharmaceuticals, considering evolutionary differences in their physiology and ecology

“…Furthermore, many drug targets are highly conserved across diverse vertebrate phyla [3][4][5][6]. Following the widespread detection of pharmaceuticals in the environment [7][8][9], concern has been raised over their potential impact on vertebrate wildlife health. The most notable example of an adverse effect in wildlife is for exposure to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac.…”