Fate Of Trace Organic Compounds Research Articles

Evaluation of the fate of trace organic compounds using the Level III fugacity model: a case study of Rajbandh open dump site in Khulna City of Bangladesh

Khulna is the 3rd largest city corporation in Bangladesh that produces 450 tons of Municipal solid waste (MSW) per day and dumps the waste in the Rajbandh open dump site. The main focus of this study is to determine the fate of chemicals in different environmental media at the Rajbandh open dump site. To accomplish the aim Level III fugacity model was evaluated which is subject to steady-state partitioning, reaction, advection, and intercompartmental transfer in an evaluative environment consisting of three compartments landfill gas (LFG), leachate, and waste. In this study, the model was implemented for six chemicals Trichloroethylene, Mono-chlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, Hexachlorobenzene, and Benzene having different physiochemical properties. The result reveals that Benzene was found with the highest fugacity value of 2.03E + 00 Pa in all compartments while Hexachlorobenzene shows the highest value of concentration 2.67E-01 mol/m3 in the waste compartment. Regarding mass distribution, all chemical shows a higher mass remaining in the waste compartment in comparison with the other compartment. The result also reveals that the dominating removal process of a chemical from the system is the reaction process. For all the chemicals almost all the mass is removed from the environment by reaction process rather than advection in LFG and leachate. Finally, the estimated behavior of the selected chemical will help to evaluate the health and ecological hazards at the open dump site and take necessary steps to control the emission of such hazardous chemicals from the open dump site by the authority.

Multi-Annual Dynamics of a Coastal Groundwater System with Soil-Aquifer Treatment and Its Impact on the Fate of Trace Organic Compounds

The combination of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) has clear advantages for the future sustainable quality and quantity management of groundwater, especially when using treated wastewater. We built a Marthe flow and transport model of an MAR–SAT system located in a near-shore sand aquifer, for quantifying the influence of environmental factors (climate, tides, and operational conditions) on the coastal hydrosystem with regard to the fate of trace organic compounds (TrOCs). The simulations show the impact of these factors on flow rates and dilution, and thus, on the potential reactivity of TrOCs. The dilution of secondary treated wastewater (STWW) is variable, depending on the operations (feeding from infiltration ponds) and on shore proximity (dilution by saltwater). We show that, close to the ponds and during infiltration, the attenuation of TrOC concentrations can be explained by reactivity. At the natural outlet of the aquifer, the simulated average residence times ranged from about 70 to 500 days, depending upon seasonal dynamics. It is important to study TrOCs at site scale in order to anticipate the effect of natural variations on the SAT and on the fate of TrOCs.

Fate of trace organic compounds in the hyporheic zone: Influence of microbial metabolism

The hyporheic zone (HZ) is considered a hydrodynamically-driven bioreactor with significant pollutant removal capacities and can therefore not only improve wholestream water quality but also preserve human and ecosystem health. Microbial metabolism is hypothesized to play a key role in pollutant transformation in hyporheic sediments of natural streams. However, previous work investigating the influence of microbial metabolism on pollutant transformation has been predominantly laboratory studies. The key challenge for field studies is the appropriate determination of net microbial metabolism, i.e. information on the actual exposure times to specific microbial processes in the investigated system. The present study uses reactive fluorescent tracers to determine microbial metabolism and ultimately its influence on pollutant transformation, e.g. for trace organic compounds, in hyporheic sediments under natural conditions. In particular, the reactive fluorescent tracers resazurin and its main transformation product resorufin were used to determine the microbial metabolism of facultative or obligate aerobes. The influence of the derived microbial metabolism on the transformation of 20 trace organic compounds, such as pharmaceuticals, including 3 parent–daughter pairs, was examined. The present findings validate laboratory results on the microbially-mediated transformation of the anticonvulsant gabapentin to its main transformation product gabapentin lactam under natural conditions. All other TrOCs investigated did not show a clear link between TrOC reactivity to the microbial metabolism informed by the resazurin–resorufin-system. Overall, the present study not only demonstrates the use of the fluorescent tracer-system resazurin and resorufin for determining microbial metabolism of facultative or obligate aerobes but also generally highlights the potential of reactive fluorescent tracers to disentangle specific reactive properties and ultimately their influence on the fate of pollutants in natural HZs.

Fate of Trace Organic Compounds in Hyporheic Zone Sediments of Contrasting Organic Carbon Content and Impact on the Microbiome

The organic carbon in streambed sediments drives multiple biogeochemical reactions, including the attenuation of organic micropollutants. An attenuation assay using sediment microcosms differing in the initial total organic carbon (TOC) revealed higher microbiome and sorption associated removal efficiencies of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) in the high-TOC compared to the low-TOC sediments. Overall, the combined microbial and sorption associated removal efficiencies of the micropollutants were generally higher than by sorption alone for all compounds tested except propranolol whose removal efficiency was similar via both mechanisms. Quantitative real-time PCR and time-resolved 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed that higher bacterial abundance and diversity in the high-TOC sediments correlated with higher microbial removal efficiencies of most TrOCs. The bacterial community in the high-TOC sediment samples remained relatively stable against the stressor effects of TrOC amendment compared to the low-TOC sediment community that was characterized by a decline in the relative abundance of most phyla except Proteobacteria. Bacterial genera that were significantly more abundant in amended relative to unamended sediment samples and thus associated with biodegradation of the TrOCs included Xanthobacter, Hyphomicrobium, Novosphingobium, Reyranella and Terrimonas. The collective results indicated that the TOC content influences the microbial community dynamics and associated biotransformation of TrOCs as well as the sorption potential of the hyporheic zone sediments.

Agent-Based model to predict the fate of the degradation of organic compounds in the aqueous-phase UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation process

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are promising water treatment technologies used to destroy trace organic compounds. Yet, the inability to predict the degradation fate of trace organic compounds due to their diverse chemical structures and potential for transformation byproducts greatly limits AOP effectiveness. Current prediction methods are time consuming and discontinuous because they rely on conventional kinetic models that often require solving ‘stiff’ ordinary differential equations numerically. In this study, we present a novel approach to AOP degradation prediction that uses an agent-based model to represent the chemical entities of individual molecular species and to simulate the movement and reactions of these entities over time in a defined space. Predicted time-dependent concentration profiles of a parent test compound, acetone, and its transformation products in UV/H2O2 AOP are shown to be consistent with our experimental observations.

Fate of Trace Organic Compounds in the Hyporheic Zone: Influence of Retardation, the Benthic Biolayer, and Organic Carbon.

The fate of 28 trace organic compounds (TrOCs) was investigated in the hyporheic zone (HZ) of an urban lowland river in Berlin, Germany. Water samples were collected hourly over 17 h in the river and in three depths in the HZ using minipoint samplers. The four relatively variable time series were subsequently used to calculate first-order removal rates and retardation coefficients via a one-dimensional reactive transport model. Reversible sorption processes led to substantial retardation of many TrOCs along the investigated hyporheic flow path. Some TrOCs, such as dihydroxy-carbamazepine, O-desmethylvenlafaxine, and venlafaxine, were found to be stable in the HZ. Others were readily removed with half-lives in the first 10 cm of the HZ ranging from 0.1 ± 0.01 h for iopromide to 3.3 ± 0.3 h for tramadol. Removal rate constants of the majority of reactive TrOCs were highest in the first 10 cm of the HZ, where removal of biodegradable dissolved organic matter was also the highest. Because conditions were oxic along the top 30 cm of the investigated flow path, we attribute this finding to the high microbial activity typically associated with the shallow HZ. Frequent and short vertical hyporheic exchange flows could therefore be more important for reach-scale TrOC removal than long, lateral hyporheic flow paths.

Hyporheic Exchange Controls Fate of Trace Organic Compounds in an Urban Stream.

First-order half-lives for 26 trace organic compounds (TrOCs) were determined in the hyporheic zone (HZ) and along a 3 km reach of a first-order stream in South Australia during both dry and wet seasons. Two salt tracer experiments were conducted and evaluated using a transient storage model to characterize seasonal differences in stream residence time and transient storage. Lagrangian and time-integrated surface water sampling were conducted to calculate half-lives in the surface water. Half-lives in the HZ were calculated using porewater samples obtained from a modified mini-point sampler and hyporheic residence times measured via active heat-pulse sensing. Half of the investigated TrOCs (e.g., oxazepam, olmesartan, candesartan) were not significantly removed along both the investigated river stretch and the sampled hyporheic flow paths. The remaining TrOCs (e.g., metformin, guanylurea, valsartan) were found to be significantly removed in the HZ and along the river stretch with relative removals in the HZ correlating to reach-scale relative removals. Using the modeled transport parameters, it was estimated that wet season reach-scale removal of TrOCs was predominately caused by removal in the HZ when the intensity of hyporheic exchange was also higher. Factors that increase HZ exchange are thus likely to promote in-stream reactivity of TrOCs.

Fate of Trace Organic Compounds in Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) Adsorbers for Drinking Water Treatment

Granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorbers for drinking water treatment were operated for approx. 14 months and the breakthrough of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and trace organic chemicals (TOrCs) was monitored. Effluent concentration profiles of gabapentin and valsartan acid increase already at throughputs of <10,000 BV. The corresponding breakthrough curves flatten out without reaching the influent concentration level. This strongly indicates biological degradation of these substances in the GAC adsorbers under aerobic conditions, contributing to a more efficient use of GAC. The observed biodegradation in pilot GAC adsorbers also confirms recent reports of biodegradation of gabapentin and valsartan acid during managed aquifer recharge. Oxypurinol is comparatively well adsorbed and no breakthrough was observed during the experimental period. Adsorption capacity and breakthrough characteristics of oxypurinol appear very similar to carbamazepine. Breakthrough of GAC adsorbers operated with drinking water was compared to those of groundwater-fed adsorbers. The results show, that it is generally advisable to use previously aerated influents for GAC fixed-bed adsorbers because this can substantially improve biological removal of otherwise poorly adsorbable compounds and ensure full GAC accessibility for adsorbates by avoiding the undesirable formation of inorganic precipitates on adsorption sites.

Evidence of solute-solute interactions and cake enhanced concentration polarization during removal of pharmaceuticals from urban wastewater by nanofiltration

The objective of this paper is to help understanding the distinctive influence of the matrix and of the flux decline (e.g. through the cake enhanced concentration polarization (CECP) phenomenon) on the removal mechanisms of four pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent by nanofiltration (NF). PhACs which are commonly encountered in secondary treated effluent were spiked in various matrix (real and synthetic) to investigate the separate and synergetic effects of the organic and ionic environment on PhACs rejection by two commercial membranes (NF-90 and NF-270). With pure water, rejection of NF membranes is dependent on the type of PhACs and of the permeate flux variations. Then, it appeared that the rejection of PhACs by NF-90 was poorly influenced by the type of compounds, because of the prevalence of steric mechanisms, but rather influenced by permeate flux variations and thus to fouling. For this tight NF membrane, CECP impacts PhACs rejection at the start of filtration while after a dense cake is formed, it became enhanced. On the contrary, rejections of PhACs by the NF-270 were enhanced during the filtration of the real wastewater in comparison with spiked pure water. It appeared that for loose-NF membranes, PhACs rejection is mainly governed by solute-solute interactions (EfOM-compound association) or electrostatic membrane-solute interactions. Finally, it seems that calcium concentration of the effluent is a critical parameter for the rejection of PhACs as it alters both the availability of sites for PhACs association and the fouling layer density. Rejections of the NF-270 were negatively impacted in the presence of Ca2+. Such a study has practical implications for further understanding of the fate of trace organic compounds during nanofiltration of wastewater for reuse applications.

Removal and fate of trace organic compounds in microbial fuel cells

This study focused on understanding and characterizing the removal of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) in microbial fuel cells (MFC). 26 TOrCs with broad physicochemical properties were spiked in synthetic wastewater. Single-chamber air-cathode MFC (SMFC) and double-chamber air-cathode MFC (DMFC) were constructed to provide combined or separated oxidation/reduction environments for TOrCs removal. The study showed that TOrCs removal processes involved both sorption and biodegradation. For neutral TOrCs, the removal efficiency was affected primarily by the biodegradability probability and hydrophobicity of the compounds, while electrostatic interactions played an additional role in the MFCs as the removal of positively charged TOrCs was generally higher than negatively charged TOrCs. The presence of TOrCs showed negligible impact on MFC power generation, likewise the operation of MFCs had marginal effect on TOrCs removal, except longer residence time in MFCs improved biological removal performance.

Rejection and fate of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) during membrane distillation

In this study, we examined the feasibility of membrane distillation (MD) for removing trace organic compounds (TrOCs) during water and wastewater treatment. A set of 29 compounds was selected to represent major TrOC groups, including pharmaceuticals, steroid hormones, phytoestrogens, UV-filters, industrial chemicals, and pesticides that occur ubiquitously in municipal wastewater. Results reported here suggest that rejection and fate and transport of TrOCs during MD are governed by their volatility and, to a lesser extent, hydrophobicity. All TrOCs with pKH>9 (which can be classified as non-volatile) were well removed by MD. Among the 29 TrOCs investigated in this study, three compounds (i.e. 4-tert-octylphenol, 4-tert-butylphenol and benzophenone) possess moderate volatility (pKH<9) and therefore had the lowest rejection efficiencies of 54%, 73% and 66%, respectively. The results suggest that the rejection of TrOCs with pKH<9 may be governed by the interplay between their hydrophobicity and volatility. In addition, the fate and transport of the TrOCs during the MD process was also investigated. Hydrophilic TrOCs having negligible volatility were concentrated in the feed, while hydrophobic compounds with moderate volatility were substantially lost due to evaporation or adsorption. When MD treatment was integrated with a thermophilic membrane bioreactor (MBR), near complete removal (>95%) of all 29 TrOCs investigated in this study was achieved despite their diverse physicochemical properties (i.e. hydrophobicity, persistency and volatility). The results suggest that MD could be a promising post-treatment to be used in conjunction with thermophilic MBR for TrOC removal.

Fate of trace organic compounds during treatment by nanofiltration

The interactions between trace organics, nanofiltration (NF) polymeric membrane material, fouling layers and macromolecules present in aqueous solution were assessed. Through a specific series of experiments, better characterisation of the impact of each individual mechanisms affecting the membrane rejection of trace organics was obtained. A full mass balance study was conducted to characterise the fate of the trace organics during water treatment by NF. The levels of adsorption of trace organics onto the membrane surface and association with the macromolecules were shown to strongly relate with the physicochemical properties of the trace organics as well as the molecular weight of the organic matter macromolecules. The results of this study revealed that two counteractive mechanisms were commonly involved in the rejection of nonionic solutes: (1) adsorption onto macromolecules resulting in increased rejection and (2) presence of cake enhanced concentration polarization leading to decrease in rejection.

Quantification of Occurrence and Fate of Trace Organic Compounds During Secondary Wastewater Treatment

Quantification of Occurrence and Fate of Trace Organic Compounds During Secondary Wastewater Treatment

Fate of trace organic compounds during vadose zone soil treatment in an onsite wastewater system

During onsite wastewater treatment, trace organic compounds are often present in the effluents applied to subsurface soils for advanced treatment during vadose zone percolation and groundwater recharge. The fate of the endocrine-disrupting surfactant metabolites 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4-nonylphenolmonoethoxylate (NP1EO), and 4-nonylphenolmonoethoxycarboxylate (NP1EC), metal-chelating agents ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), antimicrobial agent triclosan, stimulant caffeine, and antibiotic sulfamethoxazole during transport through an unsaturated sandy loam soil was studied at a field-scale test site. To assess the effects of effluent quality and hydraulic loading rate (HLR) on compound fate in the soil profile, two effluents (septic tank or textile biofilter) were applied at two design HLRs (2 or 8 cm/d). Chemical concentrations were determined in the two effluents and soil pore water at 60, 120, and 240 cm below the soil infiltrative surface. Concentrations of trace organic compounds in septic tank effluent were reduced by more than 90% during transport through 240 cm (often within 60 cm) of soil, likely due to sorption and biotransformation. However, the concentration of NP increased with depth in the shallow soil profile. Additional treatment of anaerobic septic tank effluent with an aerobic textile biofilter reduced effluent concentrations of many compounds, but generally did not affect any changes in pore water concentrations. The soil profile receiving septic tank effluent (vs. textile biofilter effluent) generally had greater percent removal efficiencies. EDTA, NP, NP1EC, and sulfamethoxazole were measured in soil pore water, indicating the ability of some trace organic compounds to reach shallow groundwater. Risk is highly dependent on the degree of further treatment in the saturated zone and the types and proximity of uses for the receiving groundwater environment.