Fate of Sucralose During Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Abstract Sucralose, a chlorinated carbohydrate, is used as an artificial sweetener in more than 80 countries and in excess of 4,000 products. Thus far, minimal research has been done on the degradation and fate of sucralose in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). We collected samples from WWTPs and surface waters in Arizona, United States. The average sucralose concentration of seven WWTP effluents was 2,800 ± 1,000 ng/L. Similarly, surface waters in Arizona contained sucralose at concentrations up to 300 ± 30 ng/L, which corroborates sucralose discharge from WWTPs into the environment. Biological degradation and chemical oxidation processes were evaluated to remove or transform sucralose under potential WWTP operation scenarios. Sucralose did not degrade in aerobic or anaerobic biological reactors, either metabolically or co-metabolically (in the presence of sucrose), after 42–62 days of experiments. Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation did not oxidize sucralose significantly, and chlori...