Abstract
This research investigates the performance of four types of constructed wetlands (CWs): free water surface CW (FWSCW), horizontal flow CW (HFCW), vertical flow CW (VFCW), and hybrid CW (HCW) for the removal of 20 personal care products (PCPs), based on secondary data compiled for 137 CWs reported in 39 peer reviewed journal papers. In spite of considerable variation in the re-moval efficiency of PCPs, CWs prove to be a promising treatment technology. The average removal efficiency of 15 widely studied PCPs ranged from 9.0% to 84%. Although CWs effectively reduced the environmental risks caused by many PCPs, triclosan was still classified under high risk category based on effluent concentration. Five other PCPs were classified under medium risk category (triclocarban > methylparaben > galaxolide > oxybenzone > methyl dihydrojasmonate). In most of the examined PCPs, adsorption and/or sorption is the most common removal mechanism followed by biodegradation and plant uptake. The comparatively better performance of HCW followed by VFCW, HFCW, and FWSCW might be due to the co-existence of aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and longer hydraulic retention time enhancing the removal of PCPs (e.g., triclosan, methyl dihydro-jasmonate, galaxolide, tonalide, and oxybenzone), which are removed under both conditions and by adsorption/sorption processes.
Highlights
IntroductionPersonal care products (PCPs) are among the emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) that are discharged to water resources and environment through various sources such as domestic wastewater (from bathing, shaving, spraying, swimming etc.), industrial wastewater (from product manufacturing discharges), landfill leachate (from improper disposal of used, defective or expired items), and effluent discharge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
Personal care products (PCPs) are among the emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) that are discharged to water resources and environment through various sources such as domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater, landfill leachate, and effluent discharge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
The results reveal that estimated risk quotient (RQ) based on effluent concentrations are considerably lower compared with those based on influent values (Figure 2; Table 2), which indicated the significant role of constructed wetlands (CWs) in attenuating the ecological risk posed by PCPs
Summary
Personal care products (PCPs) are among the emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) that are discharged to water resources and environment through various sources such as domestic wastewater (from bathing, shaving, spraying, swimming etc.), industrial wastewater (from product manufacturing discharges), landfill leachate (from improper disposal of used, defective or expired items), and effluent discharge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. PCPs are often found in very low concentrations (e.g., ng L−1 to μg L−1 ) in water bodies, they can still pose negative impacts on human health as well as aquatic and terrestrial life, if these are discharged continuously through various sources including WWTPs [6]. It has been indicated that higher concentration of PCPs compared with their potential no-effect concentration could pose severe risk to human health, since many of these. Public Health 2020, 17, 3091; doi:10.3390/ijerph17093091 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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