Behavior of Nonionic Surfactants and Their Degradation Products in Sewage Treatment Plants and Rivers in Gunma.

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 778-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akiyo MARUYAMA ◽  
Atsushi TOMIOKA ◽  
Yasunori ITO ◽  
Mari ASAMI ◽  
Takako AIZAWA
Keyword(s):  
Nonionic Surfactants ◽  
Degradation Products ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Sewage Treatment Plants

Review of the Environmental Occurrence of Alkylphenols and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates

1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald T. Bennie
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Degradation Products ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Alkylphenol Ethoxylates ◽  
Environmental Matrices ◽  
Sewage Treatment Plants

Abstract Alkylphenol ethoxylates and, in particular, nonylphenol ethoxylates have found many industrial, commercial, institutional and household uses in Canada. These nonionic surfactants are very efficient and cost effective. Their widespread use has led to the detection of the parent surfactants and their degradation products in various environmental matrices. Alkylphenol ethoxylates can be degraded aerobically and anaerobically in natural environments and sewage treatment plants.. The resulting degradation products are more persistent, more toxic, more lipophilic, less water soluble and more estrogenic than their parent compounds. This article reviews the occurrence of nonylphenol polyethoxylates and their degradation products as well as octylphenol poly-ethoxylates and their degradation products. There is limited information available about the concentrations of these substances in their original product formulations. The highest levels of the degradation products, especially nonylphenol, occur in the anaerobically digested sludge of sewage treatment plants. Sludge from these sewage treatment plants may be used as an amendment to agricultural soils. Various sewage treatment plants have wide ranges of discharged effluent concentrations of these compounds — some appear to be very efficient at removing alkylphenolics from their effluent stream. Little information is available about the fate of these substances in their receiving environment, and environmental concentrations and bioaccumulation factors of these contaminants in aquatic biota. More research is required on the uptake, persistence and bioaccumulation of alkylphenolic metabolites in fish, mussels and other aquatic organisms

Butyltin and phenyltin compounds in eels (Anguilla anguilla)

2002 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 893-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Harino ◽  
S.C.M. O'Hara ◽  
G.R. Burt ◽  
N.D. Pope ◽  
B.S. Chesman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gall Bladder ◽  
Distribution Pattern ◽  
Degradation Products ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
Sewage Treatment Plants ◽  
Thames Estuary ◽  
Low Levels

Tributyltin (TBT) and its degradation products, dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT), together with triphenyltin (TPT), were investigated in eels from the Thames Estuary and the Weston Canal (Merseyside). Within individual eels, the concentrations of organotin (OT) compounds varied considerably between tissues. Tributyltin concentrations were highest in heart and gall bladder and lowest in muscle and gonad. Tributyltin was generally the most predominant of butyltin (BT) compounds present in eel tissues and DBT the least. Phenyltins were detected in eels from both locations, notably the Weston Canal where TPT was present up to 0.367 μg g−1 (as Sn) in liver samples. Concentrations of OTs in liver (and muscle) were independent of weight and length in the eel populations examined. In a survey of OTs in eel populations along the Thames Estuary hepatic TBT levels ranged from 0.066–0.347 μg g−1 dry wt (as Sn) in liver of eels and were generally highest in the mid-section of the estuary, resembling the distribution pattern of TBT in sediment. Proportions of TBT to total BTs were also elevated in eel from this section of the waterway, consistent with continuing inputs in this region, albeit at relatively low levels. Major sewage treatment plants are sited here and may represent a possible source.

Review of the Persistence of Nonylphenol and Nonylphenol Ethoxylates in Aquatic Environments

1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. James Maguire
Keyword(s):  
Degradation Products ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Nonylphenol Ethoxylates ◽  
Plant Design ◽  
Anaerobic Conditions ◽  
Sewage Treatment Plants ◽  
Nonylphenol Ethoxylate

Abstract Alkylphenol ethoxylates, in particular nonylphenol ethoxylates, are widely used nonionic surfactants that are discharged in high quantities to sewage treatment plants and directly to the environment in areas where there is no sewage or industrial waste treatment. This article reviews the treatability of nonylphenol ethoxylates and nonylphenol in sewage treatment plants and their persistence in aquatic environments. Nonylphenol ethoxylates can be biologically degraded in sewage treatment plants and in natural environments. Some of the degradation products, including nonylphenol, are more persistent than the parent surfactants and they are found in receiving waters of sewage treatment plants. Nonylphenol in particular is found at high concentrations in some sewage sludges that may be spread on agricultural lands. While some sewage treatment plants discharge significant amounts of nonylphenol ethoxylate degradation products in their final effluents and digested sludges compared to what enters the plant, others degrade nonylphenol ethoxylates more or less completely. The differences in treatment efficiency of such compounds and their degradation products among different sewage treatment plants have been attributed to the load of the surfactants in influent streams, plant design and operating conditions, and other factors such as temperature of treatment. The highest nonylphenol ethoxylate elimination rates were achieved in plants characterized by low sludge-loading rates and nitrifying conditions. In natural waters, it appears that parent nonylphenol ethoxylates are not persistent, but some degradation products may have moderate persistence, especially under anaerobic conditions. Recent results from mesocosm experiments indicate moderate persistence of nonylphenol in sediments, with half-lives of 28 to 104 days. Microbial acclimation to the chemicals is an important determinant of persistence vis-à-vis biodegradation. Sunlight photodegradation of such products is also likely important. Further research on the persistence in natural environments of the lower ethoxylate and carboxylate degradation products, as well as nonylphenol, is necessary. Based on the limited data available, nonylphenol and the lower ethoxylates and carboxylates are persistent in groundwater. They are also persistent in landfills under anaerobic conditions, but they do not appear to be persistent in soil under aerobic conditions. Recommendations are made for further research in order to more fully characterize the treatability of nonylphenol ethoxylates and their degradation products in sewage treatment plants and their persistence in the natural environment.

Plasticizers and related toxic degradation products in wastewater sludges

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Beauchesne ◽  
S. Barnabé ◽  
D. G. Cooper ◽  
J. A. Nicell
Keyword(s):  
Degradation Products ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Drying Process ◽  
Sewage Treatment Plants ◽  
Toxic Metabolites ◽  
Beneficial Uses ◽  
Pure Cultures ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Ethylhexyl Phthalate ◽  
Wastewater Sludges

Plasticizers can persist during the treatment of wastewaters in sewage treatment plants (STPs) and can be discharged in effluents and/or accumulated in sewage sludges. For example, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is a common plasticizer that is now considered a priority pollutant and is known to accumulate in sludges. This may add constraints to the exploitation of the beneficial uses of sludges that contain significant quantities of plasticizers. Recently, it was demonstrated in studies with pure cultures that the biodegradation of plasticizers including DEHP and di-ethylhexyl adipate (DEHA) generates toxic metabolites including 2-ethylhexanoic acid, 2-ethylhexanol, and 2-ethylhexanal. However, the environmental impacts and fate of the degradation products arising from plasticizers are unknown. Therefore, this work investigated the concentrations of DEHP and DEHA and their metabolites in the sludges from several STPs in Quebec, Canada. DEHP and DEHA were found in concentrations ranging from 15 to 346 mg kg−1 and 4 to 743 mg kg−1, respectively, in primary, secondary, digested, dewatered or dried sludges. Metabolites were detected in almost all sludges, except those that had undergone a drying process at high temperature. It is concluded that sludges can represent significant sources of plasticizers and their toxic metabolites in the environment.

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