Potential Linkage between Heavy Metal Pollution Risk Assessment and Dissolved Organic Matter Spectra in the WWTPs-River Integrated Area-Case Study from Ashi River

• Published in: Toxics (Basel) 2023-11, Vol.11 (11), p.904
• Main Authors: Dai, Taoyan, Li, Zhijun, Wang, Liquan, Li, Tienan, Qiu, Pengpeng, Wang, Jun, Song, Haotian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorption spectroscopy; Analysis; Automation; Cadmium; Contamination; Copper; Developing countries; Discharge; Dissolved organic matter; Environmental aspects; Environmental indicators; Environmental risk; environmental risk assessment; Eutrophication; Excitation spectra; Factories; Fourier transforms; Health aspects; Heavy metals; human activities; Impact damage; LDCs; Methods; parallel factor analysis; Pollutants; Pollution indicators; Receiving waters; Risk assessment; Rivers; Sediments; Sewage; spectral index; Ultraviolet absorption; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plants; Water damage; Water monitoring; Water pollution; Water treatment; Water treatment plants; WWTPs-river integrated area
• ISSN: 2305-6304; 2305-6304
• DOI: 10.3390/toxics11110904

Direct sewage discharge can cause severe damage to the water environment of the river. However, the impacts of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the discharge on the original pattern of DOM and the distribution of heavy metals (HMs) in the river are little known. How to monitor such areas in a long-term and systematic manner also needs to be urgently addressed. In this paper, we characterized the DOM of the sediments in the WWTPs (wastewater treatment plants)-river integrated zone by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis), three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) combined with parallel factor (PARAFAC) method. The effects of WWTP on receiving waters were investigated, and the potential link between DOM and HM pollution was explored. Hg (Igeo: 3.94 ± 0.65; EF: 44.83 ± 31.11), Cd (Igeo: 1.81 ± 0.69; EF: 8.02 ± 2.97), Cu (Igeo: 1.61 ± 0.83; EF: 6.85 ± 2.37), Zn (Igeo: 1.55 ± 0.54; EF: 7.24 ± 3.58), and Ni (Igeo: 1.46 ± 0.56; EF: 6.12 ± 1.99) in rivers were the primary risk sources of HM. The combined pollution risk indicates that the WWTPs-river integrated area is in a high pollution risk state. Moreover, α(254) has a significant correlation with pollution indicators and can be used as a proxy indicator. These results help to understand better the impact of WWTPs on receiving water bodies and the potential connection between DOM and HM pollution and provide new ideas for monitoring the water environment in highly polluted areas.