Journal
WATER RESEARCH
Volume 246, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120680
Keywords
Baseline; Plastic additives; Industrial; Residential; Commercial
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This study aimed to estimate the contributions of diffuse and point sources of chemicals associated with plastics in wastewater. A conservative baseline was devised to classify the chemicals as point-source dominant or diffuse-source dominant when specific sampling was not possible. The results showed that bisphenol A, bisphenol S, di-isononyl phthalate, and di-methyl phthalate were dominant point-source chemicals, while phthalates were dominant diffuse-source chemicals. The estimated annual mass loads of these chemicals in wastewater treatment plants demonstrated the significant contributions from both diffuse and point sources.
Chemicals associated with plastics, such as bisphenols and phthalates, enter sewerage from both diffuse (domestic/commercial) and point (industrial) sources. In this study, we aimed to devise a conservative, statistical baseline to estimate contributions from these source types when sampling of specific sources is not possible. Population-normalised mass loads of two bisphenols and nine phthalates were estimated in wastewater samples from 22 sewage treatment plants (STPs) in 2019. Two multiday (10 and 7 day) pools were created for each STP. Baseline (diffuse) release thresholds were set at the mean of the first quartile (Q1) plus 10 times the standard deviation (STDV) of this quartile [Q1 mean + (10 x STDV)], with contributions over this considered to come from point sources. Chemicals with at least one population-normalised mass load more than three times their baseline were classified as point-source dominant and the remaining as diffuse-source dominant. Eleven of the twelve chemicals examined were detected above limits of quantification in all wastewater samples. Bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), di-isononyl phthalate (DiNP) and di-methyl phthalate (DMP) were classified as point-source dominant chemicals. The total annual mass loads entering STPs across Australia were estimated to be 4.2 tonnes/ year from diffuse sources and 4.5 tonnes/year from point sources for bisphenols, and 47 tonnes/year from diffuse sources and 5.9 tonnes/year from point sources for phthalates.
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