Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in sewage treatment plants

In this study, the concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in the biological units of various full-scale municipal sewage treatment plants were measured. Samples of influent, primary effluent, aeration tank effluent, final effluent and grab samples of primary, activated, secondary and anaerobically digested...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water research (Oxford) 2009-05, Vol.43 (9), p.2399-2408
Main Authors: Yu, Jing, Hu, Jiangyong, Tanaka, Shuhei, Fujii, Shigeo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
activated sludge
aeration
Alkanesulfonic Acids - analysis
Applied sciences
Bioreactors
Caprylates - analysis
Conventional activated sludge treatment (CAS)
Exact sciences and technology
Fluorocarbons - analysis
industrial effluents
Membrane biological reactor (MBR)
Other industrial wastes. Sewage sludge
perfluorooctane sulfonate
perfluorooctanoic acid
PFOA
PFOS
pollutants
Pollution
Seasonal variation
Seasons
Sewage - chemistry
sewage treatment
Sludge retention time (SRT)
Wastes
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Water treatment and pollution
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Summary:In this study, the concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in the biological units of various full-scale municipal sewage treatment plants were measured. Samples of influent, primary effluent, aeration tank effluent, final effluent and grab samples of primary, activated, secondary and anaerobically digested sludge were collected by 5 sampling events over one year. The two sewage treatment plants (STPs) selected for this study include plant A receiving 95% domestic wastewater and plant B receiving 60% industrial wastewater and 40% domestic wastewater. PFOS and PFOA were observed at higher concentration in aqueous and sludge samples in plant B than that of plant A. Mass flow of PFOS increased significantly (mean 94.6%) in conventional activated sludge process (CAS) of plant B, while it remained consistent after the secondary treatment in plant A. Mass flow of PFOA increased 41.6% (mean) in CAS of plants A and B and 76.6% in membrane biological reactor (MBR), while it remained unchanged after the treatment of liquid treatment module (LTM). Our results suggest that mass flow of these two compounds remains consistent after treatment of activated sludge process operating at short sludge retention time (SRT). Seasonal variations of PFOS in concentrations of raw sewage were found in plant A, while PFOA did not have significant seasonal variation in both plants A and B.
ISSN:0043-1354
1879-2448
DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2009.03.009