title: The relevance of physicochemical and biological parameters for setting emission limit values for plants treating complex industrial wastewaters.
abstract: The influents of plants treating complex industrial wastewaters from third parties may contain a large variety of often unknown or unidentified potentially harmful substances. The conventional approach of assessing and regulating the effluents of these plants is to set emission limit values for a limited set of physicochemical parameters, such as heavy metals, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand and adsorbable organic halogen compounds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relevance of physicochemical parameters for setting emission limit values for such plants based on a comparison of effluent analyses by physicochemical and biological assessment tools. The results show that physicochemical parameters alone are not sufficient to evaluate the effectiveness of the water treatment plants for removing hazardous compounds and to protect the environment. The introduction of toxicity limits and limits for the total bioaccumulation potential should be considered to supplement generic parameters such as chemical oxygen demand and adsorbable organic halogens. A recommendation is made to include toxicity screening as a technique to consider in the determination of best available techniques (BAT) during the upcoming revision of the BAT reference document for the waste treatment industries to provide a more rational basis in decisions on additional treatment steps.
authors.affiliation: VITO, Boeretang 200, 2400, Mol, Belgium, diane.huybrechts@vito.be.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huybrechts
authors.forename: Reinhilde
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weltens
authors.forename: Griet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Ab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borburgh
authors.forename: Toon
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smets
authors.forename: Lut
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hoebeke
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Polders
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards / Q000633:toxicity; D007220:Industrial Waste; D007221:Industry; D049449:Luminescence; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards / Q000633:toxicity; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards / Q000633:toxicity*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D001151:Arsenic; D007220:Industrial Waste; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical