title: Polar pollutants entry into the water cycle by municipal wastewater: a European perspective.
abstract: The effluents of eight municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in Western Europe were analyzed by liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry for the occurrence of 36 polar pollutants, comprising household and industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products. In a long-term study of the effluents of three WWTP over 10 months, sulfophenyl carboxylates and ethylene diamino tetraacetate (EDTA) were detected above 10 microg/L on average, while benzotriazoles, benzothiazole-2-sulfonate, diclofenac, and carbamazepine showed mean concentrations of 1-10 microg/L, followed by some flame retardants, naphthalene disulfonates, and personal care products in the range of 0.1-1 microg/L. Half of the determined compounds were not significantly removed in tertiary wastewater treatment. By dividing the effluent concentration of a compound by its relative removal in WWTP a water cycle spreading index (WCSI) was calculated for each compound. We propose that this index provides a measure for the potential of a polar compound to spread along a partially closed water cycle after discharge with municipal wastewater and to occur in raw waters used for drinking water production. Polar pollutants in surface water samples of different catchments showed increasing concentration for compounds with increasing WCSI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Water Quality Control, Technical University of Berlin, Sekr KF 4, Strasse des 17 Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany. thorsten.reemtsma@tu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reemtsma
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Jutta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Mira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petrovic
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Damia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barcelo
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Knepper
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe; D007220:Industrial Waste; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical