Fate of EDCs in Municipal Wastewater Treatment plants : behaviour in biosolids
Alain Huyard1, Mar Esperanza1, Cyrille Gogot1, Marie-Laure Janex-Habibi1, Luis
Castillo2, Gaela Leroy3, Jens Meinhold2
1CIRSEE, SUEZ Environnement, 2 Anjou Recherche, VEOLIA Environnement,
3Centre d’Analyses Environnementales, VEOLIA Environnement, France
(free)
The objective of the study was to get a first determination of the fate of selected EDCs during wastewater treatment. The
following compounds were targeted in both liquid and solid phases: 17β and 17α-estradiol, estrone and ethinylestradiol,
analysed using LC-MS/MS after extraction and clean-up. Alkylphenols (octylphenol, nonylphenol and their mono and diethoxylates) were measured by GC/MS after derivation step.
Eight wastewater treatment plants in France operating with a variety of treatment; both for water treatment and sludge
treatment were selected.
Results suggest that hormones remain in the liquid phase where they are removed at high rates. Transfer to the sludge is
negligible. On the other hand, the fraction of alkylphenols in the solid phase was found to be much higher than that in water,
due to hydrophobic characteristics. High concentrations of NP1EO, NP2EO or nonylphenol observed in some treated sludges
suggested a significant level of alkylphenols polyethoxylates degradation.
KEY WORDS
Alkylphenols, Endocrine Disruptors, Estrogens, Hormones, Municipal wastewater, Sewage sludge, Wastewater Treatment
