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Suess E, Berg M, Bouchet S, Cayo L, Hug SJ, Kaegi R, Voegelin A, Winkel LHE, Tessier E, Amouroux D, Buser AM. Mercury loads and fluxes from wastewater: A nationwide survey in Switzerland. WATER RESEARCH 2020; 175:115708. [PMID: 32220669 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.115708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Revised: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) pollution threatens ecosystems and human health. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a key role in limiting Hg discharges from wastewaters to rivers and lakes, but large-scale studies to estimate Hg loads and discharge at national levels are scarce. We assessed the concentration, flux, speciation, and removal of Hg in municipal wastewater throughout Switzerland by investigating 64 WWTPs in a pre-study and a subset of 28 WWTPs in the main study. We also studied the behavior and pathways of Hg along the various treatment steps in a state-of-the-art WWTP. The resulting dataset, representative of industrialized countries, provides an overview of (i) current Hg concentration ranges, (ii) average per capita loads, and (iii) wastewater Hg inputs into surface waters. The results allowed estimation of a total Hg (THg) load in Swiss wastewater of 130 ± 30 kg THg/year (15.7 mg/capita/y), of which 96 ± 4% is retained in sewage sludge. About 4.7 ± 0.5 kg THg/year (0.57 mg/capita/y) is discharged with the treated wastewater into surface waters. This corresponds to only 1.5-3% of the THg load carried by the major Swiss rivers, indicating that >95% of riverine Hg originates from other sources. Extrapolation to the population of Europe would yield a total amount of 11,700 kg THg/year in raw wastewater, with some 480 kg THg/year discharged to surface waters. Monomethyl mercury on average accounted for 0.23% of THg, and its fraction remained constant along the different treatment steps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elke Suess
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Michael Berg
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
| | - Sylvain Bouchet
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lara Cayo
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Stephan J Hug
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Ralf Kaegi
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Voegelin
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Lenny H E Winkel
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Emmanuel Tessier
- CNRS / Univ. Pau & Pays Adour, E2S/UPPA, MIRA, Institut des Sciences Analytiques et de Physico-Chimie pour l'Environnement et les Matériaux (IPREM), Pau, France
| | - David Amouroux
- CNRS / Univ. Pau & Pays Adour, E2S/UPPA, MIRA, Institut des Sciences Analytiques et de Physico-Chimie pour l'Environnement et les Matériaux (IPREM), Pau, France
| | - Andreas M Buser
- Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), 3063, Ittigen, Switzerland
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Perusini HB, Hammerschmidt CR. Temporal Variation of Mercury in Effluent from Two Municipal Wastewater-Treatment Plants in Southwest Ohio. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2020; 39:1027-1031. [PMID: 32077128 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2019] [Revised: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-treatment plants (WWTPs) are an important source of mercury (Hg) to surface waters, but little is known about temporal variability of efflux to aquatic systems. We found that Hg concentrations in effluent varied by about a factor of 2 on monthly, weekly, and hourly timescale comparisons. These results suggest that limited sampling can yield a representative concentration with reasonable uncertainty for purposes of estimating the environmental significance of Hg from WWTPs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:1027-1031. © 2020 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather B Perusini
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA
| | - Chad R Hammerschmidt
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA
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Salient to Whom? The Positioning of German Political Parties on Agricultural Pollutants in Water Bodies. WATER 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/w11112278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Scholars have increasingly argued for an integration of policies on agriculture and water due to their strong interlinkage. The entry of agricultural pollutants into water represents one of the main pressures on Europe’s ground and surface waters. This not only poses a risk to the environment and human health but also jeopardizes meeting the targets set by the EU Water Framework Directive. Research on the political agenda setting has shown that issue salience is key for triggering policy change. Nevertheless, Germany has repeatedly failed to adopt adequate policy measures despite the salience of the issue among the German public and increasing pressure by the EU. In this study, I shed light on the positioning of political parties in Germany on agricultural pollutants to explain the absence of policy change. More specifically, I ask whether there is an ideological division between political parties that hampers the adoption of effective, integrated policy measures. A qualitative content analysis of election manifestos published between 1998 and 2018 finds that political parties’ policy positions are predominantly influenced by their placement on an environmental and an economic ideological dimension. As a result, political parties in Germany advocate conflictive policy approaches, which is detrimental to the adoption of effective policy measures.
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Development Trend and Frontier of Stormwater Management (1980–2019): A Bibliometric Overview Based on CiteSpace. WATER 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/w11091908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The threat of urban floods due to climate change and urbanization has enabled sustained attention to the stormwater management field. Numerous scholars and countries have successively proposed innovative concepts for stormwater management. To grasp the current research focus and status quo and determine the development trend and dynamic direction, this work used CiteSpace, a scientific bibliometric analysis software, to analyze and identify 3080 articles based on the core database of Web of Science from 1980 to 2019. Results show a comprehensive overview of the stormwater management field, including the changes of annual articles with time; the most influential countries, institutions, authors, and articles; and the periodical keywords, highly cited papers, and burst time in the field. A knowledge table in the stormwater management field was obtained, the development context of the field and the research focus of each stage were understood, and the future development trend of the field is inferred. This study aims to provide reference for researchers and practitioners in the stormwater management field.
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Singh RP, Wu J, Fu D. Purification of water contaminated with Hg using horizontal subsurface constructed wetlands. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2019; 26:9697-9706. [PMID: 30734251 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-04260-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
As a global pollutant, Hg (Hg) since the turn of the last century has received increased attention. Decreasing the emission of Hg into the food chain and the atmosphere is an effective way to reduce the Hg damage. The current study provided information about pilot-scale horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) constructed wetlands (CWs) to remove different Hg species in polluted water. Synthetic wastewater was fed to two HSSF CWs, one was planted with Acorus calamus L and the other was unplanted as a control. The total Hg (THg), dissolved Hg (DHg), and particulate Hg (PHg) from five sites along the HSSF CWs were analyzed to describe the process of Hg removal. Results show that the CWs have high removal efficiency of Hg which is more than 90%. The removal efficiencies of THg and DHg from the unplanted CW were 92.1 ± 3.6% and 72.4 ± 13.1%, respectively. While, the removal efficiencies of THg and DHg in planted CW were 95.9 ± 7.5% and 94.9 ± 4.9%, which were higher than that in blank CW. The PHg was mainly removed in the first quarter of the CWs, which was also revealed by the partition coefficient Kd. To a certain extent, the effect of plants depends on the hydraulic retention time (HRT). The results in the current study show the potential of the HSSF-CWs for restoration from Hg-contaminated water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajendra Prasad Singh
- Department of Municipal Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University (SEU), Nanjing, 210096, China
- SEU-Monash Joint Research Centre for Future Cities, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Jiaguo Wu
- Department of Municipal Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University (SEU), Nanjing, 210096, China
- SEU-Monash Joint Research Centre for Future Cities, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Dafang Fu
- Department of Municipal Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University (SEU), Nanjing, 210096, China.
- SEU-Monash Joint Research Centre for Future Cities, Nanjing, 210000, China.
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Beutel MW, Dent SR, Newcombe RL, Möller G. Mercury removal from municipal secondary effluent with hydrous ferric oxide reactive filtration. WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH : A RESEARCH PUBLICATION OF THE WATER ENVIRONMENT FEDERATION 2019; 91:132-143. [PMID: 30735297 DOI: 10.1002/wer.1007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 09/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This study evaluated the ability of hydrous ferric oxide reactive filtration (HFO-RF) to remove mercury (Hg) from municipal secondary effluent at four study sites. Pilot HFO-RF systems (136 m3 /day) at two sites demonstrated total Hg concentration removal efficiencies of 96% (inflow/outflow mean total Hg: 43.6/1.6 ng/L) and 80% (4.2/0.8 ng/L). A lightly loaded medium-scale HFO-RF system (950 m3 /day) had a concentration removal efficiency of 53% (0.98/0.46 ng/L) and removed 0.52 mg/day of total Hg and 2.2 μg/day of methyl-Hg. A full-scale HFO-RF system (11,400 m3 /day) yielded a total Hg concentration removal efficiency of 97% (87/2.7 ng/L) and removed an estimated 0.36 kg/year of Hg. Results suggest that the quality of secondary effluent, including dissolved organic matter content, affects achievable minimum total Hg concentrations in effluent from HFO-RF systems. Low HFO-RF effluent concentrations (<1 ng/L) can be expected when treating secondary effluent from suspended-growth biological treatment systems. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Trace levels of mercury in municipal secondary effluent can negatively impact receiving waters. Hydrous ferric oxide reactive filtration (HFO-RF) can remove mercury from municipal secondary effluent to levels below the Great Lakes Initiative discharge standard of 1.3 ng/L. Mercury removal to low concentrations (< 1 ng/L) using HFO-RF appears to be associated with secondary effluents with low dissolved organic matter content. HFO-RF can also remove total phosphorus and turbidity to low concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc W Beutel
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Merced, Merced, California
| | - Stephen R Dent
- Miles Community College, Miles City, Montana
- Hydrometrics, Inc., Billings, Montana
| | | | - Gregory Möller
- Department of Biological Engineering, School of Food Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
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Rezende PS, Silva NC, Moura WD, Windmöller CC. Quantification and speciation of mercury in streams and rivers sediment samples from Paracatu, MG, Brazil, using a direct mercury analyzer®. Microchem J 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.microc.2018.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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Takaoka M, Oshita K, Okada M, Watanabe T, Tanida K. Mercury behaviour in flue gas from sewage sludge incinerators and melting furnace. WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY : A JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION ON WATER POLLUTION RESEARCH 2018; 2017:782-790. [PMID: 30016296 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2018.268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Thermal conversion of sewage sludge can be a clean source of renewable energy if the emission of air pollutants from the source is controlled. In 2013, the Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted, placing greater emphasis on the control of mercury emissions, including mercury emissions from sewage sludge incinerators. To characterise the behaviour of mercury in flue gas, particulate and gaseous mercury concentrations in two incinerators and a melting furnace were measured by manual sampling. In a third facility, continuous emission monitoring was used to characterise temporal trends in gaseous mercury concentrations. Wet scrubbers were determined to be effective air pollution control devices suitable for mercury removal. Stack mercury concentrations were found to be <10 μg/Nm3, which meets the mercury emission standard for existing plants (50 μg/Nm3).
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Affiliation(s)
- Masaki Takaoka
- Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, C cluster, Kyotodaigaku-katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8540, Japan and Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, C cluster, Kyotodaigaku-katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8540, Japan E-mail:
| | - Kazuyuki Oshita
- Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, C cluster, Kyotodaigaku-katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8540, Japan and Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, C cluster, Kyotodaigaku-katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8540, Japan E-mail:
| | - Masaharu Okada
- Water & Environment R&D Dept. III, Kubota Corporation, 1-1-1, Hama, Amagasaki city, Hyogo 661-8567, Japan
| | - Tomoaki Watanabe
- Nippon Instruments Corporation, 14-8, Akaoji cho, Takatsuki city, Osaka 569-1146, Japan
| | - Koji Tanida
- Nippon Instruments Corporation, 14-8, Akaoji cho, Takatsuki city, Osaka 569-1146, Japan
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Study on Mercury Distribution and Speciation in Urban Road Runoff in Nanjing City, China. WATER 2017. [DOI: 10.3390/w9100779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Giacomino A, Ruo Redda A, Squadrone S, Rizzi M, Abete MC, La Gioia C, Toniolo R, Abollino O, Malandrino M. Anodic stripping voltammetry with gold electrodes as an alternative method for the routine determination of mercury in fish. Comparison with spectroscopic approaches. Food Chem 2017; 221:737-745. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.11.111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2016] [Revised: 11/18/2016] [Accepted: 11/21/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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