The number of chemical compounds in sewage and consequently their release into the environment is increasing. Some of them are toxic and many of them are considered endocrine disrupters. Here, the capacity of three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to remove caffeine, hormones and bisphenol-A was investigated. Bisphenol-A and caffeine are highly water-soluble compounds, as opposed to hormones (estradiol, estriol, and ethynilestradiol) which are hydrophobic compounds. In the Sewage Treatment Plant (SWT)1 the sewage is treated by activated sludge process, in the second plant, SWT2, sewage is treated by upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors followed by dissolved air flotation, and in the third, SWT3 sewage is treated by stabilization lagoons. The first lagoon is 3.5 m deep, thus facultative and polishment processes occur. It was speculated that there was a difference in efficiency between the three plants in removing micropollutants. Small differences were found in the amounts removed, probably accounted for by retention time. The caffeine and bisphenol-A were almost completely removed, higher than 90% for both compounds (bisphenol-A and caffeine) in all WWTPs. The hormones, however, had a smaller rate of removal, between 70% and 87%. It is suspected that retention time is essential for removal efficiency, together with type of treatment. In fact, the hormones, caffeine, and bisphenol-A found in the environment definitely come from untreated sewage.
The Barigüi River watershed is located in the metropolitan region of Curitiba, Southern Brazil, passing through several neighboring counties. In recent years, due to growth and disorderly occupation along the river, in addition to lack of sanitation, the Barigüi River suffered a very large inflow of untreated domestic wastewater. Current programs to monitor the watershed use traditional physical-chemical parameters. Here, the presence of some molecular tracers found in domestic effluents was investigated, such as caffeine and coprostanol at some selected sites in Barigüi River. Caffeine is highly soluble in water and its presence in water bodies is due to the disposal of untreated sewage. Caffeine is eliminated in the urine (approximately 0.5% to 10% of the consumption). The samples were collected in three campaigns, two in dry weather and another during a week in the rainy season. The results showed that caffeine concentration ranged between zero and 753.5 μg g −1 . Higher values were found on rainy days. Caffeine showed a positive correlation between BOD and nitrate; it also showed a positive correlation with coprostanol, a fecal biomarker. Finally, caffeine has been shown to be a good parameter to determine the contamination by domestic wastewater.
The presence of emerging compounds was investigated in surface water samples from Iguassu River watershed in the metropolitan region of Curitiba (Brazil). Emerging compounds are substances present in domestic and industrial sewage. Generally, the emerging compounds are present in the environment due to the indiscriminate release of untreated domestic and industrial sewage. Even treated sewage may contain emerging compounds due to the difficulty in removing them. In this work, the presence of caffeine, musk xylene (a fragrance), and bisphenol-A was investigated in surface water samples. Also, traditional parameters used in water quality monitoring were determined, such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), nitrate, and fecal coliforms. The emerging compounds were extracted in solid phase and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Caffeine is eliminated in the urine (approximately 0.5% to 10% of the consumption), and the only source is domestic sewage. Bisphenol is widely used in food packs, while musk xylene is found in personal care products, easily eliminated in sewage. The caffeine concentration was between 1.74±0.54 and 123.45±0.81 μg/L. Musk xylene and bisphenol-A had their concentrations between 0.04±0.07 and 0.56±0.12 and between 0.62± 0.15 and 12.61±0.21 μg/L, respectively. Positive correlations were found between caffeine and traditional monitoring parameters (BOD and fecal coliforms). Higher values of emerging compounds were determined at points considered extremely polluted. The positive correlations confirm the origin of emerging compounds and show that chemical markers are good parameters for monitoring pollution when the use of traditional parameters makes the diagnosis doubtful.
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