Chemical and ecotoxicological assessments of water samples before and after being processed by a Water Treatment Plant

Abstract

Physicochemical and ecotoxicological measurements were employed to appraise the water quality of the Corumbataí River raw water (RW) intake, and that of its filtered (FW) and treated (TW) waters, processed by the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) of Piracicaba (SP, Brazil) during 2010. Some herbicides: ametrine, atrazine, simazine and tebuthiuron, were measured, with levels ranging from 0.01 to 10.3 µg L -1 . These were lower than those required to produce ecotoxicological effects to aquatic life based on published literature. Similarly, trihalomethanes, such as chloroform and bromodichloromethane produced as a result of the WTP process were also shown to be present in concentrations that would neither harm environmental nor human health. Elevated free chlorine concentrations found in FW and TW were credibly responsible for toxicity effects observed in algae and daphnids. (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Daphnia magna). In contrast, results of toxicity testing conducted with Hydra attenuata suggested that this organism is resistant to free chorine and could be used for drinking water evaluations. Coupling bioassays with chemical analyses proved valuable to uncover putative cause-effect relationships existing between physical, chemical and toxic results, as well as in optimizing data interpretation of water quality.Keywords: herbicides residues, trihalomethanes, drinking water.Avaliações químicas e ecotoxicológicas em amostras de água antes e após serem processadas por uma Estação de Tratamento RESUMOAvaliações físico-químicas e ecotoxicológicas foram utilizadas para avaliar a qualidade de amostras da água do rio Corumbataí, água bruta (RW), filtrada (FW) e tratada (TW), 7Chemical and ecotoxicological assessments of water samples … Rev. Ambient. Água vol. 9 n. 1 Taubaté -Jan. / Mar. 2014 processadas pela Estação de Tratamento de Água (ETA) de Piracicaba (SP, Brasil), em 2010. Alguns resíduos de herbicidas, tais como: ametrina, atrazina, simazina e tebutiuron, foram medidos encontrando níveis entre 0,01-10,3 µg L -1 sendo esses menores do que os necessários para produzir efeitos ecotóxicos à vida aquática, com base na literatura publicada. Da mesma forma, trihalometanos, tais como: clorofórmio e bromodiclorometano produzido como resultados do processo da ETA foram também encontrados em concentrações que não prejudicam a saúde ambiental ou humana. Concentrações de cloro livre elevadas foram encontradas nas amostras de água FW e TW e foram os prováveis responsáveis pelos efeitos de toxicidade observados em algas e dáfnias (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Daphnia magna). Por outro lado, resultados dos testes de toxicidade realizados com Hydra attenuata mostraram que este organismo é resistente a água clorado sendo um organismo potencial a ser utilizado para avaliações ecotoxicológicas em águas tratadas. Testes de toxicidade simultâneos com análises químicas revelaram úteis para descobrir relações de causa-efeito existentes entre supostos resultados tóxicos, físicos e químicos e, assim como na melhora de interp...

Induction of cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of Guandu River waters in the Allium cepa system

“…Variations in the number of cytotoxic and genotoxic changes between both seasons, such as those observed on this survey, have also been described by other authors regarding river water from other Brazilian locations (Caritá and Marin-Morales, 2008;Oliveira et al, 2011;Monteiro et al, 2014). Cytotoxic and genotoxic water pollutant potentials have ranged in accordance with time, depending on the discharges of the tributary rivers, as well as increases in the emissions of contaminated effluents.…”

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“…Variations in the number of cytotoxic and genotoxic changes between both seasons, such as those observed on this survey, have also been described by other authors regarding river water from other Brazilian locations (Caritá and Marin-Morales, 2008;Monteiro et al, 2014). Cytotoxic and genotoxic water pollutant potentials have ranged in accordance with time, depending on the discharges of the tributary rivers, as well as increases in the emissions of contaminated effluents.…”

“…Cytotoxic and genotoxic water pollutant potentials have ranged in accordance with time, depending on the discharges of the tributary rivers, as well as increases in the emissions of contaminated effluents. Moreover, high rainfall in summer might promote significant increases in organic matter and toxic compounds discharged into rivers, causing increased cytoxicity and genotoxicity during this season (Monteiro et al, 2014).…”

The aquatic impact of ionic liquids on freshwater organisms

“…Additionally, it is widely distributed in freshwater environments and has an important role in the food chain as a secondary consumer (Demetrio et al, 2012). It has been applied in the evaluation of the toxicity of different chemical compounds, such as agrochemicals (Demetrio et al, 2012), pharmaceuticals (Quinn et al, 2009), nano-materials (Blaise et al, 2008), phenols and metabolites (Pachura-Bouchet et al, 2006), and also chlorinated water (Monteiro et al, 2014). However, there is still no information about its use in the study of ILs' toxicity.…”