title: Identification, quantification and treatment of fecal odors released into the air at two wastewater treatment plants.
abstract: Odorous emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an annoyance for neighboring communities. This article, for the first time, quantitatively reports on an evaluation of the presence of fecal odorants identified in air samples from two exemplary WWTPs by the odor profile method (OPM) and chemical analysis. The fecal odorants indole and skatole were identified by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The odor threshold concentration of skatole was determined to be 0.327 ng/L (60 pptV) in Teflon Bags by an expert panel. Skatole was found to be the primary chemical leading to fecal odor, due to its odor concentration to odor threshold concentration ratio that ranged from 2.8 to 22.5. The Weber-Fechner law was followed by pure skatole, but was not applicable when there was a mixture of fecal odorants and other odorant types present in WWTP air emission samples. This is probably caused by antagonism with other odorant types. Several existing odor control treatment methods for fecal odorants were evaluated at different wastewater treatment operations at two WWTPs by the OPM and chemical analysis for indole and skatole. Chemical scrubbing and biofiltration performed best in removing fecal odors among current control technologies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 650Charles E. Young Drive South, 61-296 CHS, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. Electronic address: zhouyubinpot@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yubin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 650Charles E. Young Drive South, 61-296 CHS, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Samantha A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hallis
authors.affiliation: Orange County Sanitation District, 10844 Ellis Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA, 92708, USA.
authors.forename: Tadeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vitko
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 650Charles E. Young Drive South, 61-296 CHS, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Irwin H Mel
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Suffet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D012903:Smell; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities; D062065:Wastewater; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Fecal; Indole; Odor; Skatole; Threshold; Treatment