title: Non-target screening and prioritization of potentially persistent, bioaccumulating and toxic domestic wastewater contaminants and their removal in on-site and large-scale sewage treatment plants.
abstract: On-site sewage treatment facilities (OSSFs), which are used to reduce nutrient emissions in rural areas, were screened for anthropogenic compounds with two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC×GC-MS). The detected compounds were prioritized based on their persistence, bioaccumulation, ecotoxicity, removal efficiency, and concentrations. This comprehensive prioritization strategy, which was used for the first time on OSSF samples, ranked galaxolide, α-tocopheryl acetate, octocrylene, 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4,7-diol, several chlorinated organophosphorus flame retardants and linear alkyl benzenes as the most relevant compounds being emitted from OSSFs. Twenty-six target analytes were then selected for further removal efficiency analysis, including compounds from the priority list along with substances from the same chemical classes, and a few reference compounds. We found significantly better removal of two polar contaminants 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4,7-diol (p=0.0003) and tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (p=0.005) in soil beds, a common type of OSSF in Sweden, compared with conventional sewage treatment plants. We also report median removal efficiencies in OSSFs for compounds not studied in this context before, viz. α-tocopheryl acetate (96%), benzophenone (83%), 2-(methylthio)benzothiazole (64%), 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4,7-diol (33%), and a range of organophosphorus flame retardants (19% to 98%). The environmental load of the top prioritized compounds in soil bed effluents were in the thousands of nanogram per liter range, viz. 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyn-4,7-diol (3000ngL-1), galaxolide (1400ngL-1), octocrylene (1200ngL-1), and α-tocopheryl acetate (660ngL-1).
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemistry, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden. Electronic address: kristin.blum@umu.se.
authors.forename: Kristin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemistry, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Patrik L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gunno
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Renman
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ahrens
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Meritxell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gros
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wiberg
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemistry, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haglund
mesh_terms: D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D013548:Sweden; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Decentralized sewage treatment; Non-target analysis; Organic micropollutants; Ranking; Removal efficiencies; Two-dimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry