Azienda Servizi Integrati S.p.A., Via Calnova, 31, 30027, San Donà di Piave, VE, Italy.
University of Brescia, Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, Italy.
Water Res. 2017 Jun 1;116:44-52. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.03.016. Epub 2017 Mar 7.
Disinfection with performic acid (PFA) represents an emerging technology in wastewater treatment. Many recent studies indicate its effectiveness and suitability as a disinfectant for different applications; several have demonstrated its reliability as an alternative to chlorine for disinfecting secondary effluents from urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Some disinfection technologies, in relation to their oxidative power, lead to the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), some of which are of concern for their toxic and carcinogenic potential. The aim of this study was to investigate potential genotoxic, cytotoxic, and mutagenic effects of this disinfection agent on treated secondary effluent coming from a municipal WWTP. A strategy with multiple short-term tests and different target cells (bacterial, plant, and mammalian) was adopted to explore a relatively wide range of potential genotoxic events. The Ames test (point mutation in Salmonella), the micronucleus (chromosomal damage) and Comet tests (primary DNA damage) on human hepatic cells (HepG2) were conducted to detect mutagenicity and chromosomal DNA alterations. DNA fragmentation and mitochondrial potential assays were conducted to evaluate apoptosis in the same kinds of cells. Mutagenic and clastogenic effect potentials were evaluated by examining micronucleus formation in Allium cepa root cells. In all the in vitro tests, carried out on both disinfected and non-disinfected effluents, negative results were always obtained for mutagenic and genotoxic effects. In the Allium cepa tests, however, some non-concentrated wastewater samples after PFA treatment induced a slight increase in micronucleus frequencies in root cells, but not in a dose-related manner. In conclusion, PFA applied for disinfection to a secondary effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant did not contribute to the release of genotoxic or mutagenic compounds. Further studies are required to establish to which extent these findings can be generalized to support PFA for other disinfection applications.
过氧乙酸（PFA）消毒代表了废水处理领域的一项新兴技术。许多最近的研究表明，它作为消毒剂在不同应用中的有效性和适用性；有几项研究已经证明，它可以替代氯来消毒城市污水处理厂（WWTP）的二级出水。一些消毒技术，由于其氧化能力，会导致消毒副产物（DBP）的形成，其中一些因其潜在的毒性和致癌性而令人担忧。本研究旨在研究这种消毒剂对来自城市 WWTP 的处理后的二级出水的潜在遗传毒性、细胞毒性和致突变性。采用具有多种短期测试和不同靶细胞（细菌、植物和哺乳动物）的策略，探索了相对广泛的潜在遗传毒性事件。采用 Ames 试验（沙门氏菌点突变）、微核（染色体损伤）和彗星试验（原发性 DNA 损伤）对人肝细胞（HepG2）进行检测，以检测致突变性和染色体 DNA 改变。在相同类型的细胞中进行 DNA 片段化和线粒体电位测定，以评估细胞凋亡。通过观察洋葱根尖细胞中微核的形成，评估了诱变和断裂剂的潜在作用。在所有的体外试验中，对消毒和未消毒的废水都进行了检测，对于致突变和遗传毒性作用，结果均为阴性。然而，在 PFA 处理后的一些未经浓缩的废水样品中，在洋葱根尖细胞中，微核频率略有增加，但与剂量无关。总之，PFA 用于消毒城市污水处理厂的二级出水，并未导致遗传毒性或致突变化合物的释放。需要进一步的研究来确定这些发现在多大程度上可以推广到支持 PFA 在其他消毒应用中的使用。
