Publication
Title
Holistic approach to chemical and microbiological quality of aquatic ecosystems impacted by wastewater effluent discharges
Author
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) collect wastewater from various sources and use different treatment processes to reduce the load of pollutants in the environment. Since the removal of many chemical pollutants and bacteria by WWTPs is incomplete, they constitute a potential source of contaminants. The continuous release of contaminants through WWTP effluents can compromise the health of the aquatic ecosystems, even if they occur at very low concentrations. The main objective of this work was to characterize, over a period of four months, the treatment steps starting from income to the effluent and 5 km downstream to the receiving river. In this context, the efficiency removal of chemical pollutants (e.g. hormones and pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics) and bacteria was assessed in a WWTP case study by using a holistic approach. It embraces different chemical and biological-based methods, such as pharmaceutical analysis by HPLC-MSMS, growth rate inhibition in algae, ligand binding estrogen receptor assay, microbial community study by 16S and shotgun sequencing along with relative quantification of resistance genes by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Although both, chemical and biological-based methods showed a significant reduction of the pollutant burden in effluent and surface waters compared to the influent of the WWTP, no complete removal of pollutants, pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes was observed.
Language
English
Source (journal)
The science of the total environment. - Amsterdam, 1972, currens
Publication
Amsterdam : 2022
ISSN
0048-9697 [print]
1879-1026 [online]
DOI
10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2022.155388
Volume/pages
835 (2022) , 15 p.
Article Reference
155388
ISI
000880438300002
Pubmed ID
35489490
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Research group
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 27.11.2023
Last edited 23.08.2024
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