Longitudinal Analysis of Sucralose at a Water Treatment Wetland

Abstract

Sales of low-calorie sweeteners are increasing in the Unites States, with sucralose representing the second largest of the U.S. market share. Since >99% of ingested sucralose is excreted as the parent compound, it represents a contaminant of emerging concern and has been proposed as an indicator of pollution of natural waters by anthropogenic waste. Many report that it is increasingly omnipresent in surface, coastal, and drinking water. Given the increasing consumption of low-calorie sweeteners, changes in influent and effluent sucralose concentrations presage their concentrations in natural waters. The aim of this research was to quantify sucralose at a constructed treatment wetland that was designed to remove nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from secondary treated wastewater. We report the concentrations of sucralose in the surface water, sediment, and porewater throughout the flow train of the wetlands over a period of three years and include surface water sampling following an extreme weather event. The average influent surface water concentration of sucralose was 24 ± 2 ppb, and the average outfall concentration was 20 ± 6 ppb, indicating the sucralose is not subjected to chemical or physical adsorption in the sediment within the wetland.