This study aims to investigate factors leading to agglomeration of citrate coated silver (AgNP-Cit), polyvinylpyrrolidone coated AgNPPVP and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles in surface waters and wastewater. ENPs (1 mg/L) were spiked to unfiltered, filtered, ultrafiltered (<10 kDa and <1 kDa) samples. Z-average particle sizes were measured after 1 h, 1 day and 1 week. AgNP-PVP was stable in all fractions of the samples and kept their original size around 60 nm over 1 week. Agglomeration of AgNP-Cit and TiO2 was positively correlated with Ca2+ concentration, but dissolved organic carbon concentrations > 2 mg/L contributed to stabilizing these NP. Moreover, agglomeration of AgNP-Cit in the various organic matter fractions showed that high molecular weight organic compounds such as biopolymers provide stabilization in natural water. A generalized scheme for the agglomeration behavior of AgNP-Cit, AgNP-PVP and TiO2 in natural waters was proposed based on their relation with Ca2+, Mg2+ and DOC concentration.

The use of wastewater for irrigation may introduce antimicrobials and human pathogens into the food supply through vegetative uptake. The objective of this study was to investigate the uptake of three antimicrobials and Salmonella in two lettuce cultivars. After repeated subirrigation with synthetic wastewater, lettuce leaves and soil were collected at three sequential harvests. The internalization frequency of Salmonella in lettuce was low. A soil horizon-influenced Salmonella concentration gradient was determined with concentrations in bottom soil 2 log CFU/g higher than in top soil. Lincomycin and sulfamethoxazole were recovered from lettuce leaves at concentrations as high as 822 ng/g and 125 ng/g fresh weight, respectively. Antimicrobial concentrations in lettuce decreased from the first to the third harvest suggesting that the plant growth rate may exceed antimicrobial uptake rates. Accumulation of antimicrobials was significantly different between cultivars demonstrating a subspecies level variation in uptake of antibiotics in lettuce.

Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) antidepressants are amongst the most prescribed pharmaceutical active substances throughout the world. Their presence, already described in different environmental compartments such as wastewaters, surface, ground and drinking waters, and sediments, and their remarkable effects on non-target organisms justify the growing concern about these emerging environmental pollutants. A comprehensive review of the literature data with focus on their footprint in the aquatic biota, namely their uptake, bioaccumulation and both acute and chronic ecotoxicology is presented. Long-term multigenerational exposure studies, at environmental relevant concentrations and in mixtures of related compounds, such as oestrogenic endocrine disruptors, continue to be sparse and are imperative to better know their environmental impact.

The environmental loads of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in Beijing were estimated from direct discharge of untreated wastewater and WWTP treated effluent. The annual environmental loads of 15 PPCP components ranged from 16.3 kg (propranolol) to 9.85 tons (caffeine). A fugacity model was developed to successfully estimate the PPCP pollution based on the estimated environmental load. The modeled results approximated the observed PPCP concentrations in Beijing. The untreated wastewater contributed significantly to PPCP pollution in Beijing, ranging from 46% (propranolol) to 99% (caffeine). The total environmental burden of target PPCPs ranged from 0.90 kg (propranolol) to 536 kg (caffeine). Water is the most important media for the fate of PPCPs. Monte Carlo-based concentration distributions of PPCPs are consistent with the observed results. The most important way to reduce the PPCP pollution is to both improve wastewater collection rate and adopt deep treatment technologies.

Sewage impacted soil, sludge and water samples were studied to understand the occurrence and formation of thiosteranes and to determine the relevance of these compounds as tracers for sewage input into the environment. Soils were collected from wastewater irrigation fields (Wroclaw, Poland), water from the Nexapa River Basin (Mexico), which also received wastewater and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, and water and sludge from the Norman WWTP (USA) at different treatment stages. Thiosteranes represented a high proportion of the steroid fraction in the Wroclaw irrigation field and the Nexapa River Basin samples. Small amounts of thiosteranes were found in anaerobically digested sludge from the Norman WWTP. A good correlation between coprostanone and thiosterane concentrations suggests thiosteranes were produced by stanone sulphurization under anoxic conditions. Thiosterane stability under anoxic and suboxic conditions indicates their potential use as tracers for environmental input of sewage products or land application of sewage sludge.

Due to the restricted use and ban of brominated flame retardants, organophosphorus compounds (OPs), extensively used as flame retardants and plasticizers, are ubiquitous in various environmental compartments worldwide. The present study shows that the release of OPs from a wide variety of commercial products and wastewater discharge might be considered as primary emission sources and that high potential of long-range atmospheric transport and persistence of OPs would be responsible for their presence in various matrices on a global scale. The occurrence and environmental behaviors of OPs in diverse matrices (e.g., dust, air, water, sediment, soil and biota) are reviewed. Human exposures to OPs via dermal contact, dust ingestion, inhalation and dietary intake are comprehensively evaluated. Finally, this study identifies gaps in the existing issues and generates a future agenda for the emerging contaminants OPs.

The application of constructed wetlands (CWs) has significantly expanded to treatment of various industrial effluents, but knowledge in this field is still insufficiently summarized. This review is accordingly necessary to better understand this state-of-the-art technology for further design development and new ideas. Full-scale cases of CWs for treating various industrial effluents are summarized, and challenges including high organic loading, salinity, extreme pH, and low biodegradability and color are evaluated. Even horizontal flow CWs are widely used because of their passive operation, tolerance to high organic loading, and decolorization capacity, free water surface flow CWs are effective for treating oil field/refinery and milking parlor/cheese making wastewater for settlement of total suspended solids, oil, and grease. Proper pretreatment, inflow dilutions through re-circulated effluent, pH adjustment, plant selection and intensifications in the wetland bed, such as aeration and bioaugmentation, are recommended according to the specific characteristics of industrial effluents.

Sewage input into a karst aquifer via leaking sewers and cesspits was investigated over five years in an urbanized catchment. Of 66 samples, analyzed for 25 pharmaceuticals, 91% indicated detectable concentrations. The former standard iodinated X-ray contrast medium (ICM) diatrizoic acid was detected most frequently. Remarkably, it was found more frequently in groundwater (79%, median: 54 ng/l) than in wastewater (21%, 120 ng/l), which is supposed to be the only source in this area. In contrast, iopamidol, a possible substitute, spread over the aquifer during the investigation period whereas concentrations were two orders of magnitude higher in wastewater than in groundwater. Knowledge about changing application of pharmaceuticals thus is essential to assess urban impacts on aquifers, especially when applying mass balances. Since correlated concentrations provide conclusive evidence that, for this catchment, nitrate in groundwater rather comes from urban than from rural sources, ICM are considered useful tracers.

Increasing commercial use of nanosilver has focussed attention on the fate of silver (Ag) in the wastewater release pathway. This paper reports the speciation and lability of Ag in archived, stockpiled, and contemporary biosolids from the UK, USA and Australia, and indicates that biosolids Ag concentrations have decreased significantly over recent decades. XANES revealed the importance of reduced-sulfur binding environments for Ag speciation in materials ranging from freshly produced sludge to biosolids weathered under ambient environmental conditions for more than 50 years. Isotopic dilution with 110mAg showed that Ag was predominantly non-labile in both fresh and aged biosolids (13.7% mean lability), with E-values ranging from 0.3 to 60 mg/kg and 5 mM CaNO3 extractable Ag from 1.2 to 609 μg/kg (0.002–3.4% of the total Ag). This study indicates that at the time of soil application, biosolids Ag will be predominantly Ag-sulfides and characterised by low isotopic lability.

Correlation analysis suggests that occurrences of AMPA in streams of southern Ontario are linked mainly to glyphosate in both urban and rural settings, rather than to wastewater sources, as some previous studies have suggested. For this analysis the artificial sweetener acesulfame was analyzed as a wastewater indicator in surface water samples collected from urban and rural settings in southern Ontario, Canada. This interpretation is supported by the concurrence of seasonal fluctuations of glyphosate and AMPA concentrations. Herbicide applications in larger urban centres and along major transportation corridors appear to be important sources of glyphosate and AMPA in surface water, in addition to uses of this herbicide in rural and mixed use areas. Fluctuations in concentrations of acesulfame and glyphosate residues were found to be related to hydrologic events.