Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Land, Environment and Mathematics, University of Brescia, via Branze 43, I-25123 Brescia, Italy.
Sci Total Environ. 2013 Aug 1;458-460:160-8. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.03.108. Epub 2013 May 3.
WWTP (wastewater treatment plant) effluents are considered to be a major source for the release in the aquatic environment of EDCs (Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds), a group of anthropogenic substances able to alter the normal function of the endocrine system. The application of conventional processes (e.g. activated sludge with biological nitrogen removal) does not provide complete elimination of all these micropollutants and, consequently, an advanced treatment should be implemented. This experimental work was conducted on the tertiary ozonation stage of a 140,000 p.e. activated sludge WWTP, treating a mixed domestic and textile wastewater: an integrated monitoring, including both chemical (nonylphenol, together with the parent compounds mono- and di-ethoxylated, and bisphenol A were chosen as model EDCs) and biological (estrogenic and genotoxic activities) analyses, was carried out. Removal efficiencies of measured EDCs varied from 20% to 70%, depending on flow conditions (ozone dosage being 0.5 gO3/gTOC). Biological tests, furthermore, displayed that the oxidation stage did not significantly reduce (only by 20%) the estrogenicity of the effluent and revealed the presence and/or formation of genotoxic compounds. These results highlight the importance of the application of an integrated (biological+chemical) analytical procedure for a global evaluation of treatment suitability; poor performances recorded in this study have been attributed to the presence of a significant industrial component in the influent wastewater.
污水处理厂（WWTP）的废水被认为是向水生环境中释放内分泌干扰化合物（EDCs）的主要来源，EDCs 是一组人为物质，能够改变内分泌系统的正常功能。常规工艺（例如具有生物脱氮功能的活性污泥）的应用并不能完全消除所有这些微量污染物，因此应该实施高级处理。这项实验工作是在一个 14 万当量的活性污泥污水处理厂的三级臭氧处理阶段进行的，处理的是混合的生活和纺织废水：进行了综合监测，包括化学分析（壬基酚，以及母体化合物单和二乙氧基化和双酚 A 被选为模型 EDCs）和生物分析（雌激素和遗传毒性活性）。所测量的 EDCs 的去除效率因流量条件而异（臭氧剂量为 0.5 gO3/gTOC），从 20%到 70%不等。此外，生物测试表明，氧化阶段并没有显著降低（仅降低 20%）废水的雌激素活性，并揭示了遗传毒性化合物的存在和/或形成。这些结果强调了应用综合（生物+化学）分析程序进行整体处理适宜性评估的重要性；本研究中记录的较差性能归因于进水废水中存在大量工业成分。
