Environmental risk assessment for quaternary ammonium compounds: a case study from Austria

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) are widely used as disinfectants, biocides, and detergents, among a variety of other applications. The cationic surface-activity of QAC determines their potential to act as a biocide on both target and non-target organisms. This study aims to provide a broad-based...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water science and technology 2006-01, Vol.54 (11-12), p.111-118
Main Authors: Grillitsch, B, Gans, O, Kreuzinger, N, Scharf, S, Uhl, M, Fuerhacker, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ammonium
Ammonium compounds
Analytical chemistry
Aquatic organisms
Austria
Biocides
Case studies
Chlorides
Detergents
Disinfectants
Ecological effects
Ecological risk assessment
Ecotoxicology
Effluents
Environmental assessment
Environmental effects
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental risk
Industrial Waste - analysis
Industrial Waste - prevention & control
Life sciences
Literature reviews
Modular design
Natural resources
Organisms
Particulate matter
Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - analysis
Risk Assessment
Rivers
Surface water
Veterinary medicine
Wastewater
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Water Pollution, Chemical - analysis
Water Pollution, Chemical - prevention & control
Water treatment
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) are widely used as disinfectants, biocides, and detergents, among a variety of other applications. The cationic surface-activity of QAC determines their potential to act as a biocide on both target and non-target organisms. This study aims to provide a broad-based environmental risk characterization and evaluation for selected QAC with particular focus on the situation in Austrian rivers. A modular study design was employed involving environmental exposure characterization, QAC fate and effect analysis in wastewater, ecotoxicological effect characterization, and environmental risk evaluation. A wide array of Austrian surface waters and wastewater effluents were screened for the selected key compounds, benzalkonium chlorides and dialkyldimethylammonium chlorides with different C-chain lengths. Ecotoxicological effect characterization was based on both microbiotests for a set of representative aquatic organisms and a literature review. For risk evaluation, the PEC/PNEC ratio was above 1 for some rivers. Notably, small rivers with a high particulate matter were contaminated with QAC in the case of high water incidents. Hence, for the Austrian sites studied, a QAC-derived risk to sensitive aquatic non-target organisms could not be excluded.
ISSN:0273-1223
1996-9732
DOI:10.2166/wst.2006.840