This study investigated the occurrence and removal of 12 antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, levofloxacin, norfloxacin, nalidixic acid, azithromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin, lincomycin, novobiocin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim) at four sewage treatment plants (STPs): two STPs in Kyoto, Japan and two STPs in Beijing, China. The STPs differed in design and operation conditions, utilized a variety of secondary treatment processes. The antibiotics were frequently detected in influents and effluents, and ranged from ng/L up to lower μg/L. In influent, clarithromycin (1.1–1.6 μg/L) and levofloxacin (3.6–6.8 μg/L) were detected in the highest concentration in Japanese and Chinese STPs, respectively. The overall elimination of the antibiotics were differed between STPs and ranged from negative to >90%. These data demonstrate that there are detectable levels of antibiotics are discharging from STPs, and only some of these antibiotics are being removed in a significant proportion by STPs. It was also observed that biological nutrient removal based sewage treatment processes (anaerobic–anoxic–oxic: A2O; and anoxic–oxic: AO) have relatively higher antibiotics removal efficiencies than oxidation ditch (OD) processes.

The antipsychotic drug quetiapine (QUT) has been frequently detected in sewage treatment plants. However, information on the fate of QUT in aquatic environments and its behavior during UV treatment is limited. In this study, QUT is shown not to be readily biodegradable in the Closed Bottle Test and the Manometric Respirometry Test according to OECD guidelines. The main biotransformation product (BTP) formed in the tests, a carboxylic acid derivative, was identified by means of high-resolution mass spectrometry. This BTP is presumably a human metabolite and showed higher detection rates than QUT in a river sampling campaign conducted in northern Germany. UV elimination kinetics of QUT at different initial concentrations (226.5, 45.3, 11.3, and 2.3 μmol L−1) were faster at lower initial concentrations. All seven phototransformation products (PTPs) could be still identified at initial concentration of 11.3 μmol L−1. The photolytic mixture generated after 128 min of photolysis of QUT was not better biodegradable than QUT. Initial UV treatment of QUT led to the formation of several additional BTPs. Four of them were identified. The bacterial cytotoxicity and genotoxicity before and after phototransformation of QUT in a modified luminescent bacteria test (LBT) and the umu-test (ISO/FDIS 13829) showed cytotoxic effects in the LBT for QUT. Furthermore, PTPs had similar cytotoxic effects on luminescent bacteria. The umu-test did not reveal any genotoxic activity for QUT or PTPs. In conclusion, the release of QUT into sewage treatment plants and aquatic environments could result in the formation of a main BTP. Additional UV treatment of QUT would lead to the formation of additional BTPs. Moreover, treatment did not result in lower toxicity to tested organisms. In conclusion, UV treatment of QUT should be considered critically as a potential treatment for QUT in aquatic systems.

Stable isotopes (δ15N, δ18O) can serve as tracers for sources of nitrogen in the receiving environment. Hong Kong discharges ~3×106m3d−1 of treated wastewater into the ocean from 68 facilities implementing preliminary to tertiary treatment. We sampled treated sewage from 18 plants across 5 treatment types and examined receiving seawater from northeast Hong Kong. We analyzed nitrate and nitrite (NO3−+NO2−, hereafter NOx) ammonium (NH4+), phosphate (PO4+) concentrations and δ15NNOx, δ18ONOx. Sewage effluents contained high mean nutrient concentrations (NO3−=260μmolL−1, NH4+=1400μmolL−1, PO4+=50μmolL−1) with some indication of nitrogen removal in advanced treatment types. Mean δ15NNOx of sewage effluents from all plants and treatment types (12‰) was higher than natural sources and varied spatially and seasonally. There was no overall effect of sewage treatment type on δ15NNOx. A mass balance model indicated that sewage (>68%) remains a dominant source of nitrate pollution in seawater in Tolo Harbor.

The wide occurrence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and heavy metals in coastal waters has drawn global concern, and thus their removal efficiencies in sewage treatment processes should be estimated. However, low concentrations coupled with high temporal fluctuations of these pollutants present a monitoring challenge. Using semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and Artificial Mussels (AMs), this study investigates a novel approach to evaluating the removal efficiency of five EDCs and six heavy metals in primary treatment, secondary treatment and chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) processes. In general, the small difference between maximum and minimum values of individual EDCs and heavy metals measured from influents/effluents of the same sewage treatment plant suggests that passive sampling devices can smooth and integrate temporal fluctuations, and therefore have the potential to serve as cost-effective monitoring devices for the estimation of the removal efficiencies of EDCs and heavy metals in sewage treatment works.

Washing clothes made from synthetic materials has been identified as a potentially important source of microscopic fibres to the environment. This study examined the release of fibres from polyester, polyester-cotton blend and acrylic fabrics. These fabrics were laundered under various conditions of temperature, detergent and conditioner. Fibres from waste effluent were examined and the mass, abundance and fibre size compared between treatments. Average fibre size ranged between 11.9 and 17.7μm in diameter, and 5.0 and 7.8mm in length. Polyester-cotton fabric consistently shed significantly fewer fibres than either polyester or acrylic. However, fibre release varied according to wash treatment with various complex interactions. We estimate over 700,000 fibres could be released from an average 6kg wash load of acrylic fabric. As fibres have been reported in effluent from sewage treatment plants, our data indicates fibres released by washing of clothing could be an important source of microplastics to aquatic habitats.

To study the impact of biological treatment techniques on perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) emissions in municipal sewage, high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was combined with WAX extraction enrichment to analyze the content and distribution of 14 PFAAs in the influent and effluent of 10 municipal sewage treatment plants that adopted 3 biological treatment techniques including sequencing batch reactor (SBR), oxidation ditch, and A/O-involved processes in Shenzhen, China. The mass flow of PFAAs under different biological treatment techniques was also compared. Results showed that average ΣPFAAs of the ten sewage treatment plants decreased from 32 to 26 ng/L after treatment, showing no significant difference, but average daily ΣPFAAs mass flow significantly decreased from 8.1 to 6.1 g/day (p < 0.05). Through treatment, short-chain PFAAs and perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) with removal rates of 43 and 29 % decreased significantly (p < 0.01), but long-chain PFAAs and perfluorosulfonates (PFSAs) with removal rates of −0.68 % and −21 % did not. The plants using SBR had an average ΣPFAAs removal rate of 35 %, comparable to those using A/O-involved processes (27 %). However, the plants using oxidation ditch technique had an average long-chain PFAAs removal rate of −51 %, making their average ΣPFAAs removal rates reaching −25 %, significantly lower than the other two techniques (p < 0.05).

As major endocrine disruptors, natural estrogens such as 17β-estradiol (E2) have been found with adverse effects on animals and humans. How to control E2 pollution as well as that of other estrogens in the environment is a worldwide concern. A novel E2-degrading bacterium (strain JX-2) was isolated from the activated sludge of a sewage treatment plant and was identified as Rhodococcus sp. Strain JX-2 grew well and metabolized up to 94 % of the substrate E2 added (30 mg L⁻¹) within 7 days at 30 °C. The optimal environmental conditions for E2 degradation by JX-2 were pH 7.0 and 30 °C. Strain JX-2 was immobilized in sodium alginate. The optimal conditions for strain JX-2 immobilization were 4 % sodium alginate, 1:1 bacteria/sodium alginate ratio, 5 % CaCl₂⋅2H₂O, and 6 h crosslinking time. The degradation performance of immobilized strain JX-2 was apparently superior to that of the free strain, particularly under pH <6.0 or >8.0 either below 20 or above 35 °C. Immobilized strain JX-2 removed E2 in natural sewage and cow dung with removal efficiency of more than 64 and 81 %, respectively. This is the first report of utilizing immobilized bacteria to remove estrogens in sewage and livestock manure. The results suggest that strain JX-2 could be used to remove E2 from the environment efficiently.

The implantation of wastewater treatment systems aims to minimize environmental impacts, but ultimately generates waste materials, such as sewage sludge, which must be properly discarded. Final disposal in landfills, and incineration are the most commonly used disposal methods, but both constitute a threat to the soil, water, air, and food chain. The most suitable alternative for the disposal of sewage sludge is its use as fertilizer, due to the nutrients in its composition, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon. However, the presence of potentially toxic metals is the main factor that limits such use. Many techniques have been employed in attempt to remove these toxic metals, including physical, chemical, and biological treatments, but the high cost of the physical and chemical treatments, as well as the risk of causing secondary pollution, makes this type of sewage sludge treatment an unsatisfactory option. Therefore, removing toxic metals through biological treatments has become an increasingly popular choice, as such treatments have been shown to be the most economically and environmentally beneficial methods. The aim of the present study was to provide a review of some of the most common alternative treatments for the incineration and disposal of sludge in landfills, emphasizing the physical, chemical, and biological processes that enable the removal of potentially toxic metals, for the purpose of obtaining a final product which can be used as fertilizers in farm soils.

Flow cytometry was applied to assess the microbiological impact of treated sewage effluent discharge into a small brook carrying surface runoff water. Increases in dissolved organic carbon and soluble reactive phosphorous were accompanied by increases in counts of intact bacteria by up to eightfold. Effluent ingress furthermore resulted in a pronounced shift of bacterial clusters. Whereas brook water upstream of the discharge point was characterised by a bacterial cluster with low nucleic acid (LNA) content, downstream water showed a shift to bacteria with high nucleic acid (HNA) content. Changes in the LNA/HNA ratio were largely maintained along the course of the brook. Results suggest that the LNA/HNA ratio can under certain conditions serve as an indicator of anthropogenic nutrient impact. Measuring impact on this low trophic level might be more sensitive and straightforward than measuring macroindicators. More evidence will however be required to assess the usefulness of LNA/HNA measurements to assess the ecological nutrient status of natural waters and the impact of nutrient pollution.

Technological innovation is one of the potential engines to mitigate environmental pollution. However, the implementation of new technologies sometimes fails owing to socioeconomic constraints from different stakeholders. Thus, it is essential to analyze constraints of environmental technologies in order to build a pathway for their implementation. In this study, taking three technologies on rural sewage treatment in Hangzhou, China as a case study, i.e., wastewater treatment plant (WTP), constructed wetland (CW), and biogas system, we analyzed how socioeconomic constraints affect the technological choices. Results showed that socioeconomic constraints play a key role through changing the relative opportunity cost of inputs from government as compared to that of residents to deliver the public good—sewage treatment—under different economic levels. Economic level determines the technological choice, and the preferred sewage treatment technologies change from biogas system to CW and further to WTP along with the increase of economic level. Mismatch of technological choice and economic level results in failures of rural sewage treatment, e.g., the CW only work well in moderately developed regions in Hangzhou. This finding expands the environmental Kuznets law by introducing the coproduction theory into analysis (i.e., inputs from both government and residents are essential for the delivery of public goods and services such as good environmental quality). A match between technology and socioeconomic conditions is essential to the environmental governance.