Persistence of artificial sweeteners in a 15-year-old septic system plume

Robertson, W. D.; Stempvoort, Dale R. Van; Solomon, D. Kip; Homewood, J.M.; Brown, Scott; Spoelstra, John; Schiff, Sherry L.

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.10.048

Cited by 80 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…2B). The high prevalence and concentration of ACE is likely due to its common use as an artificial sweetener in Canada, its strong resistance to degradation in the environment (Buerge et al, 2009; Scheurer et al, 2010; Gan et al, 2014), and its mobility in groundwater (Buerge et al, 2009; Van Stempvoort et al, 2011a, 2011b; Robertson et al, 2013). Sucralose was analyzed for a smaller number of samples (only the 2013 set, n = 58), but it had the next highest overall occurrence and maximum concentration at 14% of samples and 0.57 μg L −1 , respectively (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Artificial sweeteners have several advantages over other wastewater tracers, including the facts that (i) they are almost exclusively derived from human wastewater (municipal or septic system effluents), (ii) they are ubiquitous in human wastewater, (iii) they occur at relatively high concentrations, and (iv) they are slow to breakdown in the environment, especially acesulfame (ACE) and sucralose (SUC). Artificial sweeteners have been detected in rivers, lakes, and groundwater where wastewater is known to discharge (Brorström‐Lundén et al, 2008; Buerge et al, 2009; Scheurer et al, 2009; Oppenheimer et al, 2011; Spoelstra et al, 2013; Robertson et al, 2013; Van Stempvoort et al, 2013). They have also been found in the groundwater underlying urban areas with leaky sewer systems (Wolf et al, 2012; Tran et al, 2014; Lee et al, 2015) and as a component of landfill leachate (Roy et al, 2014; Clarke et al, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Once in the environment, numerous factors can control the fate of artificial sweeteners. Saccharin (SAC) and cyclamate (CYC) have generally been found to be more easily degraded than SUC and ACE (Buerge et al, 2009; Scheurer et al, 2009; Robertson et al, 2013) and have been proposed as tracers of untreated or undertreated wastewater (Buerge et al, 2009; Yang et al, 2017). For example, Zirlewagen et al (2016) used CYC/ACE ratios to distinguish between “old or treated wastewater” and “fresh and untreated wastewater.” The presence of the more degradable artificial sweeteners in groundwater can be an indication of more recent contamination and proximity to the effluent source.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Artificial Sweeteners Reveal Septic System Effluent in Rural Groundwater

2017

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It has been widely documented that municipal wastewater treatment plant effluents are a major source of artificial sweeteners to surface waters. However, in rural areas, the extent to which septic systems contribute these same compounds to groundwater aquifers is largely unknown. We examined the occurrence of four commonly used artificial sweeteners in an unconfined sand aquifer that serves as a water supply for rural residents, as a receptor of domestic wastewater from septic systems, and as a source of baseflow to the Nottawasaga River, ON, Canada. Groundwater from the Lake Algonquin Sand Aquifer in the southern Nottawasaga River Watershed was collected from private domestic wells and as groundwater seeps discharging along the banks of the Nottawasaga River. Approximately 30% of samples had detectable levels of one or more artificial sweeteners, indicating the presence of water derived from septic system effluent. Using acesulfame concentrations to estimate the fraction of septic effluent in groundwater samples, ∼3.4 to 13.6% of the domestic wells had 1% or more of their well water being derived from septic system effluent. Similarly, 2.0 to 4.7% of the groundwater seeps had a septic effluent contribution of 1% or more. No relationship was found between the concentration of acesulfame and the concentration of nitrate, ammonium, or soluble reactive phosphorus in the groundwater, indicating that septic effluent is not the dominant source of nutrients in the aquifer. It is expected that the occurrence of artificial sweeteners in shallow groundwater is widespread throughout rural areas in Canada. Core Ideas Samples were collected from domestic wells and groundwater seeps in rural Ontario. Artificial sweeteners were found in >30% of rural groundwater samples. Acesulfame was used to estimate the fraction of septic effluent in groundwater. Septic effluent was not a significant source of nutrients in the aquifer.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Artificial Sweeteners Reveal Septic System Effluent in Rural Groundwater

2017

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“…Due to the resulting mobility in the aquatic environment and its persistence, acesulfame can be found in groundwater and bank filtrate Scheurer et al, 2010). Current results from a septic system plume in a Canadian aquifer suggested a half-life of above 15 years (Robertson et al, 2013). O'Brien et al (2014) highlighted acesulfame (and gabapentin) as the best among 96 chemicals tested to correlate chemical mass loads in wastewater with the population living in the catchment areas of ten WWTPs in Australia.…”

Section: Municipal Wastewatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Selection of organic process and source indicator substances for the anthropogenically influenced water cycle

et al. 2015

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“…329 Due to their persistence, sucralose [32,37,49] and acesulfame 330 [5,42] are used as tracers of wastewater contamination in 331 groundwater, landfill leachate [43], and drinking water. However, 332 relatively lower concentrations of sucralose (1460 ng/L, df: 100%) 333 and acesulfame (56 ng/L, df: 80%) than other ASWs were found in 334 influents of Indian STPs.…”

Section: Massload 1000peoplementioning

confidence: 99%