TY - JOUR
T1 - Seasonal occurrence, removal efficiencies and preliminary risk assessment of multiple classes of organic UV filters in wastewater treatment plants
AU - Tsui, Mirabelle M.P.
AU - Leung, H. W.
AU - Lam, Paul K.S.
AU - Murphy, Margaret B.
PY - 2014/4/15
Y1 - 2014/4/15
N2 - Organic ultraviolet (UV) filters are applied widely in personal care products (PCPs), but the distribution and risks of these compounds in the marine environment are not well known. In this study, the occurrence and removal efficiencies of 12 organic UV filters in five wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) equipped with different treatment levels in Hong Kong, South China, were investigated during one year and a preliminary environmental risk assessment was carried out. Using a newly developed simultaneous multiclass quantification liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane (BMDM), 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (BP-1), benzophenone-3 (BP-3), benzophenone-4 (BP-4) and 2-ethyl-hexyl-4-trimethoxycinnamate (EHMC) were frequently (®80%) detected in both influent and effluent with mean concentrations ranging from 23 to 1290ng/L and 18-1018ng/L, respectively; less than 2% of samples contained levels greater than 1000ng/L. Higher concentrations of these frequently detected compounds were found during the wet/summer season, except for BP-4, which was the most abundant compound detected in all samples in terms of total mass. The target compounds behaved differently depending on the treatment level in WWTPs; overall, removal efficiencies were greater after secondary treatment when compared to primary treatment with >55% and 70% removal), respectively. Reverse osmosis was found to effectively eliminate UV filters from effluent (>99% removal). A preliminary risk assessment indicated that BP-3 and EHMC discharged from WWTPs may pose high risk to fishes in the local environment. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
AB - Organic ultraviolet (UV) filters are applied widely in personal care products (PCPs), but the distribution and risks of these compounds in the marine environment are not well known. In this study, the occurrence and removal efficiencies of 12 organic UV filters in five wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) equipped with different treatment levels in Hong Kong, South China, were investigated during one year and a preliminary environmental risk assessment was carried out. Using a newly developed simultaneous multiclass quantification liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane (BMDM), 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (BP-1), benzophenone-3 (BP-3), benzophenone-4 (BP-4) and 2-ethyl-hexyl-4-trimethoxycinnamate (EHMC) were frequently (®80%) detected in both influent and effluent with mean concentrations ranging from 23 to 1290ng/L and 18-1018ng/L, respectively; less than 2% of samples contained levels greater than 1000ng/L. Higher concentrations of these frequently detected compounds were found during the wet/summer season, except for BP-4, which was the most abundant compound detected in all samples in terms of total mass. The target compounds behaved differently depending on the treatment level in WWTPs; overall, removal efficiencies were greater after secondary treatment when compared to primary treatment with >55% and 70% removal), respectively. Reverse osmosis was found to effectively eliminate UV filters from effluent (>99% removal). A preliminary risk assessment indicated that BP-3 and EHMC discharged from WWTPs may pose high risk to fishes in the local environment. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
KW - China
KW - Organic ultraviolet filters
KW - Personal care products
KW - Removal efficiency
KW - Risk assessment
KW - Wastewater treatment
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UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84893372901&origin=recordpage
U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2014.01.014
DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2014.01.014
M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal
C2 - 24503280
SN - 0043-1354
VL - 53
SP - 58
EP - 67
JO - Water Research
JF - Water Research
ER -
