title: Behaviour of emerging contaminants in sewage sludge after anaerobic digestion.
abstract: Nowadays, there is an increasing concern over the presence of contaminants in the aquatic environment, where they can be introduced from wastewater after their incomplete removal in the treatment plants. In this work, degradation of selected emerging pollutants in the aqueous and solid phases of sewage sludge has been investigated after anaerobic digestion using two different digesters: mesophilic and thermophilic. Initially, sludge samples were screened by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF MS) for identification of emerging contaminants in the samples. In a second step, a target quantitative method based on LC coupled to tandem MS was applied for selected pollutants identified in the previous screening. The behaviour of the compounds under anaerobic conditions was studied estimating the degradation efficiency and distribution of compounds between both sludge phases. Irbesartan and benzoylecgonine seemed to be notably degraded in both phases of the sludge. Venlafaxine showed a significant concentration decrease in the aqueous phase in parallel to an increase in the solid phase. The majority of the compounds showed an increase of their concentrations in both phases after the digestion. Concentrations in the solid phase were commonly higher than in the aqueous for most contaminants, indicating that they were preferentially adsorbed onto the solid particles.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Avda. Sos Baynat, E-12071, Castellón, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boix
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Avda. Sos Baynat, E-12071, Castellón, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ibáñez
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Avda. Sos Baynat, E-12071, Castellón, Spain.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fabregat-Safont
authors.affiliation: Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo, Avda. Benjamin Franklin 21 Parque Tecnológico, Paterna, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo, Avda. Benjamin Franklin 21 Parque Tecnológico, Paterna, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pastor
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Avda. Sos Baynat, E-12071, Castellón, Spain.
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Sancho
authors.affiliation: Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo, Avda. Benjamin Franklin 21 Parque Tecnológico, Paterna, Spain.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Avda. Sos Baynat, E-12071, Castellón, Spain. Electronic address: felix.hernandez@uji.es.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hernández
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000032:analysis; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D000077405:Irbesartan; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D013777:Tetrazoles / Q000032:analysis; D000069470:Venlafaxine Hydrochloride / Q000032:analysis; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D003042:Cocaine; D000077405:Irbesartan; D012722:Sewage; D013777:Tetrazoles; D000069470:Venlafaxine Hydrochloride; D062065:Wastewater; D014867:Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C005618:benzoylecgonine
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Emerging contaminants; Sewage sludge; Time-of-flight mass spectrometry; Triple quadrupole mass spectrometry