Concentration, composition, bioavailability, and N-nitrosodimethylamine formation potential of particulate and dissolved organic nitrogen in wastewater effluents: A comparative study

Abstract

Wastewater-derived organic nitrogen (org-N) can act as both nutrients and carcinogenic nitrogenous disinfection byproduct precursors. In this study, the concentration, composition, bioavailability, and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation potential of particulate organic nitrogen (PON) from three different municipal wastewater treatment plants were characterized and compared with that of effluent dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). The average effluent PON and DON concentrations ranged from 0.09 to 0.55mgN/L and from 0.91 to 1.88mgN/L, respectively. According to principal component analysis, org-N composition and characterization differed in PON and DON samples (n=20). Compared with DON, PON tended to be enriched in protein and nucleic acids, and showed a more proteinaceous character. Composition of org-N functional groups estimated from the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy N 1s spectra indicate no significant differences in the molecular weight distribution of the protein-like materials between PON and DON. Moreover, PON exhibited a significantly higher bioavailability (61.0±13.3%) compared to DON (38.5±12.4%, p˂0.05, t-test) and a significantly higher NDMA yields (791.4±404.0ng/mg-N) compared to DON (374.8±62.5ng/mg-N, p˂0.05, t-test). Accordingly, PON contributed to approximately 12.3–41.7% of the total bioavailable org-N and 22.0–38.4% of the total NDMA precursors in wastewater effluents. Thus, the potential adverse effects of PON on wastewater discharge and reuse applications should not be overlooked, even though it only accounted for 7.4–26.8% of the total effluent org-N.