Monitoring Chemical Substances in Canadian Municipal Wastewater ISO Technical Committee 275 Burlington ON Shirley Anne Smyth Science and Risk Assessment Directorate 8 September 2014
Outline The Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) Monitoring & Surveillance in support of the CMP Wastewater monitoring program Results to date For the future
What is the Chemicals Management Plan? Launched by the Government of Canada in 2006 as a commitment to protect human health and the environment from the risks of harmful chemicals Designed to: Take action on the highest priority substances Provide transparency and predictability through clear priorities and timelines ongoing engagement with stakeholders and the public Promote international collaboration Invest in research and monitoring Align work on chemicals across regulatory programs 3
CMP Monitoring and Surveillance Generate Science-based information: Feed decision making during Risk Assessments Inform Risk Management action by identifying exposure pathways and vulnerable areas Performance Measurement: Develop baseline data and milestone data for performance measurement Demonstrate overall effectiveness of risk management action Indicate if additional risk management action is required
CMP Monitoring and Surveillance Environment Canada s activities: Monitoring in environmental media Water Air and Precipitation Sediment Aquatic biota (fish) Terrestrial biota (birds) Monitoring outputs from wastewater sector
Rationale for CMP Wastewater Monitoring Program Wastewater effluents and residuals (solids) may be important sources of a variety of chemical substances to the environment, through consumer products Wastewater sector has no control over what enters its treatment systems. Very little field information available to verify or calibrate model predictions for removal and fate
CMP Wastewater Monitoring Program Objectives Temporal trends in influents (warm, cold) Fate of compounds during wastewater treatment: disappearance, partitioning to solids Concentrations entering environment Baseline data to evaluate future upstream control measures
Wastewater Treatment in Canada Facultative lagoon Aerated lagoon Chemically-assisted primary treatment * Secondary biological treatment * Advanced treatment * * produce solids which then need treatment
Wastewater Solids Treatment Stabilize, reduce volume, inactivate pathogens Digestion (aerobic, anaerobic) Methane production Dewatering Alkaline stabilization Composting
Sampling Techniques Raw Influent, Final Effluent 24-hour composite Refrigerated Equal volume Stainless steel 3 days per season Treated Biosolids Grab Stainless steel 3 days per season Temperatures: < 5 C to > 20 C
Selection of Analytes Risk assessment and risk management priorities Availability of analytical methods and capacity Availability of $$$
What have we monitored so far? Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) 5 other brominated flame retardants (HBCD, BTBPE, PBEB, HBB, DBDPE) Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFOS, PFOA +11) Bisphenol A Metals (20) Triclosan Tetrabromobisphenol A Chlorinated alkanes Organotins Parabens Nonylphenol and ethoxylates Siloxanes Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)
Results brominated flame retardants in biosolids PBDEs: 420 to 6000 ng/g in treated biosolids Increased by digestion, decreased by alkaline treatment BTBPE, PBEB, HBB, DBDPE: up to 32 ng/g HBCD: up to 45 ng/g Do not degrade, partition to solids Maximize removal from liquid by optimizing operational conditions
Results pharmaceuticals and personal care products Analgesics/anti-inflammatory: biodegradation Ibuprofen max 490 ng/g Naproxen max 150 ng/g Antibiotics/antifungal: partitioning to solids 4-Epitetracycline max 1700 ng/g Azithromycin max 850 ng/g Ciprofloxacin max 16,000 ng/g Norfloxacin max 3300 ng/g Triclocarban max 8900 ng/g Triclosan max 11,000 ng/g
Results Perfluorinated compounds (PFOS, PFOA +) PFOS and PFOA concentrations increase during wastewater treatment! PFOS sorbs to sludge to a greater extent than PFOA PFOS median 13 ng/g Higher concentrations in anaerobically digested biosolids
Results Bisphenol A Used in manufacture of polycarbonate and epoxy resins Ubiquitous in environment Endocrine disruptor Canadian prohibition 2010 Monitoring in wastewater 2009 to 2012, 25 WWTPs Wastewater effluents median 150 ng/l Removal dependent on treatment type Treated biosolids median 460 ng/g Baseline for comparison with future monitoring
Results Nonylphenol Ethoxylates Surfactants NP2EO, NP1EO, NP Use restrictions imposed in 2004 to reduce NPEs in wastewater and biosolids Follow-up wastewater monitoring in 2010-2012 12 WWTPs including 5 types High removal from wastewater by partitioning to solids Increased concentration in biosolids after anaerobic digestion, median NP 62,900 ng/g 70%+ reductions in concentrations compared to 10 years ago!
References just ask me! Guerra P, M Kim, A Shah, M Alaee, SA Smyth. 2014. Occurrence and fate of antibiotic, analgesic/antiinflammatory, and antifungal compounds in five wastewater treatment plants. Science of the Total Environment 473-474, 235-243. Guerra P, M Kim, A Shah, N Khera, M Alaee, SA Smyth. 2014. Fate of pharmaceuticals in different wastewater treatment plants. Water Research, submitted. Guerra P, M Kim, L Kinsman, T Ng, M Alaee, SA Smyth. 2014. Parameters affecting the formation of perfluoroalkyl acids during wastewater treatment. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 272, 148-154. Kim M, P Guerra, M Alaee, SA Smyth. 2014. Occurrence and fate of four novel brominated flame retardants in wastewater treatment plants. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, accepted for publication. Kim M, P Guerra, S Teslic, M Alaee, SA Smyth. 2014. Bisphenol A removal in various wastewater treatment plants: effect factors, mass balance, optimization. In preparation. Kim M, P Guerra, M Theocharides, K Barclay, SA Smyth, M Alaee. 2013. Parameters affecting the occurrence and removal of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in twenty Canadian wastewater treatment plants. Water Research 47 (7), 2213-2221. Kim M, P Guerra, M Theocharides, K Barclay, SA Smyth, M Alaee. 2013. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in sewage sludge and treated biosolids: effect factors and mass balance. Water Research 47 (17) 6496-6505. Lajeunesse A, SA Smyth, K Barclay, S Sauvé, C Gagnon. 2012. Distribution of antidepressant residues in wastewater and biosolids following different treatment processes by municipal wastewater treatment plants in Canada. Water Research, 46, 5600-5612. Wang DG, H Steer, T Tait, Z Williams, G Pacepavicius, T Young, T Ng, SA Smyth, L Kinsman, M Alaee. 2013. Concentrations of cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes in biosolid amended soil, influent, effluent, receiving water, and sediment of wastewater treatment plants in Canada. Chemosphere 93, 766-773.
Future Wastewater and Biosolids Monitoring Phase 3 of CMP 2016-2020 Method development and data generation Follow-up monitoring for high priority substances
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