Concurrent Analysis of 84 Compounds among Emerging Contaminants Listed by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, in Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plants Using Liquid Chromatography and High-resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS)

Abstract

The Ministry of the Environment, Japan has listed 207 items of emerging contaminants that are to be surveyed (“Items to be surveyed”, Youchousa-koumoku) to study the contamination in the water environment. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are one of the main sources of these contaminants in the water environment. In the current study, 84 compounds in the list of “Items to be surveyed” were concurrently analyzed in samples from 10 different WWTPs in Japan using liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Samples were collected at three stages; i) primary effluent, ii) secondary effluent, and iii) final effluent. Impact of solid phase extraction and wastewater matrix on the recovery of the compounds was evaluated. 29 compounds were detected in at least 4 WWTPs. Triethanolamine, N,N-dimethyldodecylamine, 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy) ethanol, diethanolamine, and N,N-dimethyalacetamide had high removal (> 60%) in at least 6 treatment plants. The conventional activated sludge process was found to have lower removal efficiency for some compounds than the other processes. Decanoic acid had a concentration higher than its predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) and other three compounds had concentrations greater than PNEC/10 in final effluent.