Effect of Wastewater Treatment Facility Closure on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in a Coastal Plain Stream

Abstract

Wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) closures are rare environmental remediation events; offering unique insight into contaminant persistence, long-term wastewater impacts, and ecosystem recovery processes. The U.S. Geological Survey assessed the fate of select endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) in surface water and streambed sediment one year before and one year after closure of a long-term WWTF located within the Spirit Creek watershed at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Sample sites included a WWTF-effluent control located upstream from the outfall, three downstream effluentimpacted sites located between the outfall and Spirit Lake, and one downstream from the lake's outfall. Prior to closure, the 2.2-km stream segment downstream from the WWTF outfall was characterized by EDC concentrations significantly higher ( = 0.05) than at the control site; indicating substantial downstream transport and limited in-stream attenuation of EDC, including pharmaceuticals, estrogens, alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) metabolites, and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFR). Wastewater-derived pharmaceutical, APE metabolites, and OPFR compounds were also detected in the outflow of Spirit Lake, indicating the potential for EDC transport to aquatic ecosystems downstream of Fort Gordon under effluent discharge conditions. After the WWTF closure, no significant differences in concentrations or numbers of detected EDC compounds were observed between control and downstream locations. The results indicated EDC pseudo-persistence under preclosure, continuous supply conditions, with rapid attenuation following WWTF closure. Low concentrations of EDC at the control site throughout the study and comparable concentrations in downstream locations after WWTF closure indicated additional, continuing, upstream contaminant sources within the Spirit Creek watershed. c⃝ 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Multi-region assessment of pharmaceutical exposures and predicted effects in USA wadeable urban-gradient streams

“…Differences (permutation N = 9999 probability of being the same = 0.0001) in the centroids of cumulative median detections and concentrations were observed between sites with (detections median: 3, IQR: 2-9; cumulative concentrations median: 62 ng/L; IQR: 20-405 ng/L) and without permitted wastewater discharges (detections median: 1, IQR: 0-3; cumulative concentrations median: 11 ng/L; IQR: 0-55 ng/L). These results are consistent with the documented importance of WWTP discharges as pharmaceutical-contaminant sources [84,85] and the substantial pharmaceutical-contaminant reductions in urban-area wadeable streams following WWTP-treatment upgrades [84,85] or WWTP closures [86,87].…”

Widespread occurrence and potential for biodegradation of bioactive contaminants in Congaree National Park, USA

“…Initial rates of aerobic mineralization of the endogenous estrogens E2 and E1 were comparable and generally among the highest observed of any of the model 14 C-substrates for a given site. As naturally occurring estrogens, efficient aerobic biodegradation of E1 and E2 is expected and has been demonstrated in sewage sludge and wastewater (for review, see Hamid and Eskicioglu [85], Lee and Liu [86], and Silva et al [87]), wastewaterimpacted sediment [72,88], biofilms [71], and surface-water sediment from remote locations in Rocky Mountain National Park (CO, USA) [89]. The initial rate of aerobic BPA mineralization to 14 CO 2 in the present study was comparable to that of E1 and E2.…”