Occurrence, distribution and ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives in the effluents of wastewater treatment plants

In this study, we investigated the concentration distribution of parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives in the effluents of 5 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Beijing, China for eight months. We first identified the coexistence of PAHs, chlorinated PAHs (CI-PAHs), brominated PAHs (Br-PAHs) and oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs) in the effluents of WWTPs. Three CI-PAHs and 7 Br-PAHs were first found. The total concentrations of PAHs, Cl-PAHs, Br-PAHs and OPAHs ranged from 8.99-88.38, n.d.-5.70, n.d.-13.11 ng L-1 and 15.47-106.92 ng L-1, respectively. In terms of temporal distributions, the total concentrations of PAHs and OPAHs presented a decreasing trend from April to November and the total concentrations of Cl-PAHs and Br-PAHs fluctuated at lower levels. These results indicated that these compounds will be long-term discharged into the receiving river. In addition, Cl-PAHs, Br-PAHs and OPAHs were likely generated by transformations occurring during chlori nation disinfection. For ecological risk assessment, risk quotients of 6 compounds, indeno[1,2,3-cd] pyrene, benzo[g,h,i]perylene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, 6-bromobenzo[a]pyrene, 1,8-dibromopyrene and 1,6-dibromopyrene, were thought to indicate high ecological risk (fish). Furthermore, Cl-PAHs, Br-PAHs and OPAHs in the effluents of WWTPs can cause more serious environmental hazards than the corresponding PAHs. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study investigated the concentration distribution of PAHs and their derivatives in the effluents of 5 municipal WWTPs in Beijing, China. The coexistence of PAHs, CI-PAHs, Br-PAHs and OPAHs was identified, with CI-PAHs, Br-PAHs, and OPAHs possibly causing more serious environmental hazards than PAHs in the effluents.