Determination of priority air pollutants at the sites of sludge disposal of sewage treatment plants when establishing a sanitary protection zone

Abstract

Currently, various handling processes are used for sewage sludge treatment in order to reduce the sediment volume and amount, and aerobic stabilization of sediment. Nevertheless, sludge sites continue to pose a threat to the population sanitary-epidemiological well-being as an unpleasant odors source. Objective: determination of the composition of the specific pollutants in the emissions generated at the Zelenogorsk’s sludge sites to carry out further work on health risk assessment according to the olfactory exposure. The study materials were selected sludge samples before entering the sludge fields. Methods used: gas chromatography with a mass spectrometric detector, high-performance liquid chromatography with an ultraviolet detector based on a diode matrix, fluorimetry, and capillary electrophoresis. A total of 60 gas-air samples were analyzed. As an experiment result, 9 classes of compounds were found. On the second day, the aromatic compounds’s predominance in emissions is noted 83 % of the total emission (181.4 mg/kg of sediment dry weight). On the 10th day — the nitrogen-containing compounds predominance (65 %) and organic acids (32.5 %), the aromatic compounds content is 1.2 % (total emission — 75.5 mg/kg). The priority chemical compounds in emission and specific substances that may additionally be included in the atmospheric air quality studies program when establishing a sanitary protection zone have been identified.