Artigo Acesso aberto Revisado por pares

Study of the distribution of 204 organic contaminants between the aqueous phase and the suspended particulate matter in treated wastewater for proper environmental control

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 51; Issue: 10-12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/19443994.2013.765095

ISSN

1944-3994

Autores

Nieves Barco-Bonilla, Roberto Romero‐González, Patricia Plaza‐Bolaños, Antonia Garrido Frenich, José Luis Martı́nez Vidal, Juan José Sendra Salas, Isabel López Martín,

Tópico(s)

Microplastics and Plastic Pollution

Resumo

Abstract A distribution study of 204 organic contaminants, including polar and nonpolar pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and phenolic compounds, between the two phases composing municipal wastewater (WW) from a small community (aqueous phase and suspended particulate matter (SPM)) has been performed to establish whether the compounds can be more prone to be in the aqueous or in the solid phase, depending on their hydrophobicity. Therefore, a general procedure is proposed to evaluate this issue. This study shows that nonpolar pesticides and PAHs are distributed between the aqueous phase and the SPM (e.g. pyrethroids are mainly found in the SPM), whereas polar pesticides and phenolic compounds are mainly present in the aqueous phase. This fact made clear the relevance of the analysis of both phases in WW samples, bearing in mind that if SPM is discarded, an important fraction of some contaminants is not determined and therefore, it does not assess the total load of pollutants discharged, underestimating the real impact on the environment.

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