Putting waste to work Emerging Organic Contaminants an overview
10 s of 1000 s of chemicals are used inour daily lives
Definition of Emerging Contaminants Emerging contaminants" can be broadly defined as any synthetic or naturally occurring chemical or any microorganism that is not commonly monitored in the environment but has the potential to enter the environment and cause known or suspected adverse ecological and(or) human health effects. http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc/
Definition of Emerging Contaminants Emerging is a misnomer wrt chemical pollution because in most instances it s employed to refer to: Issues existing for some time which have eluded attention Issues that have yet to occur analytical advances allow measurement & data collection Emerging represents a move in focus from conventional priority POPs to bioactive anthropogenic chemicals
Emerging OrganicContaminants Generally includes: Emerging halogenated POPS Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) Steroid hormones and other EDCs EMERGING CONTAMINANTS IN WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT EFFLUENTS: new generation pesticides (neonicotinoids) Result from: Fate and assessment of risk to aquatic receiving environments in New Zealand worldwide, universal and frequent use cumulative usage of relatively small quantities by a multitude of individuals
Pharmaceutical and PersonalCare Products (PPCPs) drugs (prescription and over counter) diagnostic agents (X-ray media) antimicrobials and disinfectants fragrances (synthetic musks) sunscreen agents/uv filters insect repellents (DEET) formulation ingredients (surfactants and siloxanes) steroid hormones illegal drugs (cocaine, methamphetamine P)
Industrial Chemicals Plasticisers (phthalates, adipates, Bisphenol-A) surfactants (4-n-nonylphenol, 4-tert-octylphenol) siloxanes UV stabilisers Alkylphosphate flame retardants The list is literally endless.
Emerging Organic Chemicals HPVs (= or > ½ M kg/annum by USEPA) commonly in personal care products & domestic goods identified as priority organic chemicals by WERF
EOCs and HPV chemicals antimicrobial and antispetic chemicals preservatives fragrances insect repellants alkylphosphate flame retardants
Emerging Organic Chemicals diverse group of chemicals internally or externally used excreted and/or used by humans, animals, even plants approx 70% of injested pharmaceuticals are excreted unchanged Wide spectrum of chemical classes and physicochemical properties, often similar persistence to harmful xenobiotics Production quantities are comparable to many intensively used agrichemicals.
Sources of EOCs Land application of animal waste WWTP effluents & on-site septic systems Landfills & leachates Industrial/manufacturing wastes Land application of biosolids
EOCs in New Zealand WWTPs Determine the concentrations of selected emerging organic micro-pollutants in treated wastewater from WWTPs in New Zealand
Conclusions Concentrations of residual EOCs in NZ WWTP effluent are comparable to overseas data Solids separation and recovery is the main removal process- rather than biodegradation Impacts and effects will be similar to those observed overseas
EOCs in New Zealand WWTPBiosolids Determine the concentrations of selected emerging organic micro-pollutants in New Zealand biosolids
PolybrominatedDiphenylEther FRs Congener NZ Denmark Sweden BDE47 243 109.2 170 BDE99 265 61.9 240 BDE100 51 13.8 41 BDE153 34.6 21 BDE154 24 4 17 BDE183 5.94 <5 - (ng/kg (ppt) DW) EU developing legislative controls for selected PBDEs
Alkyl Phenols (µg/kg, ppb) WWTP NPE metabolites 1 2 3 4 5 4-n-nonylphenol 11 55 44 54 12 total tech nonylphenol 22490 350627 61874 291515 44173 4-n-octylphenol 441 3235 857 2269 803 t-octyl phenol 5668 3893 1767 5068 1215 t-amyl phenol 27 176 86 107 23 WWTP NPE metabolites 6 7 8 9 10 4-n-nonylphenol 25 103 101 58 16 total tech nonylphenol 10653 1790289 511665 182151 40551 4-n-octylphenol 291 5972 3478 2741 449 t-octyl phenol 1358 9608 6102 4339 1440 t-amyl phenol 13 430 61 116 18 60% exceeded the EU limit of 50ppm
Phthalates (µg/kg, ppb) WWTP Phthalate 1 2 3 4 5 dimethyl phthlate 55 24 11 9 78 d-diethyl phthlate 59 22 46 36 38 diethyl phthlate 61 118 346 103 43 3-chlorophenylphenyl ether 0 0 0 0 8 4-bromophenylphenyl ether 0 0 0 0 0 d-di-n-butyl phthlate 35 21 34 40 35 di-n-butyl phthlate 168 708 204 264 455 butyl benzyl phthlate 626 864 271 150 273 d-bis(2-thylhexyl)phthlate 8 2 29 32 16 bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthlate 190520 1465 27636 51054 148582 di-n-octyl phthlate 1347 303 200 251 1463 40% exceeded the EU limit of 100ppm WWTP Phthalate 6 7 8 9 10 dimethyl phthlate 6 15 11 5 40 d-diethyl phthlate 42 47 52 37 48 diethyl phthlate 145 91 58 67 108 3-chlorophenylphenyl ether 0 0 0 0 0 4-bromophenylphenyl ether 0 0 0 0 0 d-di-n-butyl phthlate 45 22 41 36 34 di-n-butyl phthlate 139 270 293 155 1204 butyl benzyl phthlate 38 353 406 315 586 d-bis(2-thylhexyl)phthlate 13 18 14 24 10 bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthlate 73804 85662 160962 13274 197377 di-n-octyl phthlate 249 340 757 111 659
Conclusions Concentrations of EOCs in NZ biosolids are comparable to those overseas Some EOCs are present at higher concentrations than biosolids produced overseas Advanced treatment of biosolids by anaerobic digestion will further reduce EOCs Other types and sources of EOCs in NZ will have similar concentrations to those observed overseas
EOCs in Landfills provide conditions for long-term persistence of EOCs transport and migration into groundwater leachate contains numerous types of EOCs concentrations of EOCs in fresh leachate are a risk to the environment http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc/landfills.html http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2015-11-13-leachate_pathways.html
EOCs in Compost & Recyclables Primarily derive from compost produced with biosolids Composting further reduces EOCs but information is scarce Paucity of information on EOCs in recycled materials
Environmental concentrations Data is currently limited due to recent recognition as pollutants, cost of analysis, regulatory lag Environmental concentrations range from parts per trillion to million More often parts per trillion to parts per billion Many EOCs are biologically active at very low concentrations, sub ppt Much concern regarding the effects of mixtures of biologically active EOCs
Priority EOCs Selected on the basis of persistence during wastewater treatment persistence in receiving environments Toxicity to organisms ability to bioaccumulate
Priority EOCs No common consensus at this time Common priority classes of EOCs include: Flame retardants (polybrominated and alkylphosphate) Phthalate esters and plasticisers Surfactants Polycyclic- and nitro-musk fragrances Triclosan and parabens Estrogenic steroid hormones Selected antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs
Proposed Revisions to NZ Biosolid Guidelines Remove current guideline values for persistent organic pollutants and replace them with EOCs Implement guideline limits for selected EOCs including: steroid hormones and nonylphenols Linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (surfactant) Selected PBDE flame retardants Triclosan (antimicrobial) Ciprofloxacin (antibiotic) Selected pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine and diclofenac) Persistent herbicides (clopyralid)