Assessment of the Presence of Triclosan in Wastewater Treatment Plants in the Czech Republic and Alternative Fungal Treatment
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered to be a major source of various organopollutants in the aquatic environments as a consequence of insufficient treatment processes. This study was performed to investigate the occurrence of triclosan (TCS), an antimicrobial personal care product, in inlets and outlets of several WWTPs in order to provide information about the presence of the compound in the Czech Republic.
Samples were collected at nine WWTPs located in Bohemia, downstream from variously populated cities in the summer/autumn of 2011 and spring of 2012. At two WWTPs, TCS concentrations were found to be under the limit of detection of the method at both inlets and outlets.
At the other WWTPs, the concentrations of TCS at the inlets ranged from 0 to 1830 ng.l-1 (median 597 ng.l-1, mean 528 ng.l-1). At the outlets, the concentrations varied from 59 to 1051 ng.l-1 (median 205 ng.l-1, mean 335 ng.l-1).
The removal of TCS from wastewater is a process consisting of several mechanisms, such as adsorption and microbial and as well as abiotic degradation. Part of TCS is usually converted into methyl-triclosan (Me-TCS) by microbes in activated sludge under aerobic conditions and this metabolite is very often used as a pollution marker.
In this study, no Me-TCS was detected at the outlets, suggesting that the major removal mechanism was adsorption or some other unknown mechanisms. Fluctuation in TCS concentrations over 24 hours were monitored at both the inlet and the outlet of one selected WWTP