| Title | Status of hormones and painkillers in wastewater effluents across several European states-considerations for the EU watch list concerning estradiols and diclofenac |
| Abstract | Present technologies for wastewater treatment do not sufficiently address the increasing pollution situation of receiving water bodies, especially with the growing use of personal care products and pharmaceuticals (PPCP) in the private household and health sector. The relevance of addressing this problem of organic pollutants was taken into account by the Directive 2013/39/EU that introduced (i) the quality evaluation of aquatic compartments, (ii) the polluter pays principle, (iii) the need for innovative and affordable wastewater treatment technologies, and (iv) the identification of pollution causes including a list of principal compounds to be monitored. In addition, a watch list of 10 other substances was recently defined by Decision 2015/495 on March 20, 2015. This list contains, among several recalcitrant chemicals, the painkiller diclofenac and the hormones 17 beta-estradiol and 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol. Although some modern approaches for their removal exist, such as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), retrofitting most wastewater treatment plants with AOPs will not be acceptable as consistent investment at reasonable operational cost. Additionally, by-product and transformation product formation has to be considered. The same is true for membrane-based technologies (nanofiltration, reversed osmosis) despite of the incredible progress that has been made during recent years, because these systems lead to higher operation costs (mainly due to higher energy consumption) so that the majority of communities will not easily accept them. Advanced technologies in wastewater treatment like membrane bioreactors (MBR) that integrate biological degradation of organic matter with membrane filtration have proven a more complete elimination of emerging pollutants in a rather cost- and labor-intensive technology. Still, most of the presently applied methods are incapable of removing critical compounds completely. In this opinion paper, the state of the art of European WWTPs is reflected, and capacities of single methods are described. Furthermore, the need for analytical standards, risk assessment, and economic planning is stressed. The survey results in the conclusion that combinations of different conventional and advanced technologies including biological and plant-based strategies seem to be most promising to solve the burning problem of polluting our environment with hazardous emerging xenobiotics. |
| Source | Environmental science and pollution research international 23 (13), pp. 12835–12866 |
| Keywords | DiclofenacEthinylestradiolEmerging pollutantsEffluent qualityEU watch listPollutant removalAdvanced technologies |
| Journal | Environmental science and pollution research international |
| Editor | Springer, Berlin, Germania |
| Year | 2016 |
| Type | Articolo in rivista |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11356-016-6503-x |
| Authors | Schroeder, P.; Helmreich, B.; Skrbic, B.; Carballa, M.; Papa, M.; Pastore, C.; Emre, Z.; Oehmen, A.; Langenhoff, A.; Molinos, M.; Dvarioniene, J.; Huber, C.; Tsagarakis, K. P.; Martinez-Lopez, E.; Pagano, S. Meric; Vogelsang, C.; Mascolo, G. |
| Text | 359825 2016 10.1007/s11356 016 6503 x ISI Web of Science WOS 000378817300026 Diclofenac Ethinylestradiol Emerging pollutants Effluent quality EU watch list Pollutant removal Advanced technologies Status of hormones and painkillers in wastewater effluents across several European states considerations for the EU watch list concerning estradiols and diclofenac Schroeder, P.; Helmreich, B.; Skrbic, B.; Carballa, M.; Papa, M.; Pastore, C.; Emre, Z.; Oehmen, A.; Langenhoff, A.; Molinos, M.; Dvarioniene, J.; Huber, C.; Tsagarakis, K. P.; Martinez Lopez, E.; Pagano, S. Meric; Vogelsang, C.; Mascolo, G. Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen; Tech Univ Munich; Univ Novi Sad; Univ Santiago de Compostela; Univ Brescia; CNR; Turkish Atom Energy Commiss; Univ Nova Lisboa; Wageningen Univ Agrotechnol Food Sci; Univ Valencia; Kaunas Univ Technol; Democritus Univ Thrace; Univ Murcia; Namik Kemal Univ; Norwegian Inst Water Res NIVA Present technologies for wastewater treatment do not sufficiently address the increasing pollution situation of receiving water bodies, especially with the growing use of personal care products and pharmaceuticals PPCP in the private household and health sector. The relevance of addressing this problem of organic pollutants was taken into account by the Directive 2013/39/EU that introduced i the quality evaluation of aquatic compartments, ii the polluter pays principle, iii the need for innovative and affordable wastewater treatment technologies, and iv the identification of pollution causes including a list of principal compounds to be monitored. In addition, a watch list of 10 other substances was recently defined by Decision 2015/495 on March 20, 2015. This list contains, among several recalcitrant chemicals, the painkiller diclofenac and the hormones 17 beta estradiol and 17 alpha ethinylestradiol. Although some modern approaches for their removal exist, such as advanced oxidation processes AOPs , retrofitting most wastewater treatment plants with AOPs will not be acceptable as consistent investment at reasonable operational cost. Additionally, by product and transformation product formation has to be considered. The same is true for membrane based technologies nanofiltration, reversed osmosis despite of the incredible progress that has been made during recent years, because these systems lead to higher operation costs mainly due to higher energy consumption so that the majority of communities will not easily accept them. Advanced technologies in wastewater treatment like membrane bioreactors MBR that integrate biological degradation of organic matter with membrane filtration have proven a more complete elimination of emerging pollutants in a rather cost and labor intensive technology. Still, most of the presently applied methods are incapable of removing critical compounds completely. In this opinion paper, the state of the art of European WWTPs is reflected, and capacities of single methods are described. Furthermore, the need for analytical standards, risk assessment, and economic planning is stressed. The survey results in the conclusion that combinations of different conventional and advanced technologies including biological and plant based strategies seem to be most promising to solve the burning problem of polluting our environment with hazardous emerging xenobiotics. 23 Published version Articolo in rivista Springer 0944 1344 Environmental science and pollution research international Environmental science and pollution research international Environ. sci. pollut. res. int. Environmental science and pollution research international. Environmental science and pollution research international Print Environmental science and pollution research Print ESPR Print carlo.pastore PASTORE CARLO giuseppe.mascolo MASCOLO GIUSEPPE |
