Publication
Monitoring of 17B-estradiol in raw and treated samples of wastewater treatment plants
| Summary: | Aquatic environment pollution is a keen subject in the most important discussions surrounding global issues. With the increase of industrialization, globalization and urbanization, as consequence, there is an increase in production of high-level pollutants. Emerging pollutants (EP’s) are compounds which are, usually, not found in natural water sources. Data concerning the occurrence and concentrations of some pharmaceuticals in effluents from WWTPs and surface waters, shows that EP concentrations in effluents fluctuate widely, most probably due to inconsistent efficiency of wastewater treatment. Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), are an important group of EP’s, considering they are often found in different aquatic matrices. Nowadays, monitoring the concentration levels of estrogens in treated wastewaters of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is an environmental mandatory task to minimize or eliminate water pollution. The present work is divided in two main experimental stages. First, an SPE/HPLC-UV experimental methodology is optimized to detect and quantify 17β-Estradiol (E2) present in aqueous samples. The HPLC-UV operating conditions were selected by performing a screening between 10 different mobile phase compositions. A pure methanol composition was selected based in the lower retention time and the highest UV detector signal. The solid phase extraction optimization involves a three-level Box-Behnken experimental design with four factors (sample volume, sample pH, adsorbent drying time and solvent composition used for the washing step), combined with a response surface methodology. The implementation of the optimized experimental methodology occurred by the monitoring of estradiol in a wastewater influent and effluent samples. E2 was detected and quantified in three different samples collected from three distinct point of a WWTP. Sample 1 was collected from the entrance point, sample 2 was collected from the activated sludge aeration tank and sample 3 was the completely treated effluent. The concentration of E2 found in three points was higher than what was anticipated, but coherent with other works. |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | Foureaux, Nathalia S. |
| Subject: | Wastewater treatment plant Solid phase extraction High performance liquid chromatography Estradiol |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Document type: | master thesis |
| Access type: | open access |
| Associated institution: | Universidade Politécnica de Bragança |
| Language: | English |
| Origin: | Biblioteca Digital da UPB |
| Summary: | Aquatic environment pollution is a keen subject in the most important discussions surrounding global issues. With the increase of industrialization, globalization and urbanization, as consequence, there is an increase in production of high-level pollutants. Emerging pollutants (EP’s) are compounds which are, usually, not found in natural water sources. Data concerning the occurrence and concentrations of some pharmaceuticals in effluents from WWTPs and surface waters, shows that EP concentrations in effluents fluctuate widely, most probably due to inconsistent efficiency of wastewater treatment. Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), are an important group of EP’s, considering they are often found in different aquatic matrices. Nowadays, monitoring the concentration levels of estrogens in treated wastewaters of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is an environmental mandatory task to minimize or eliminate water pollution. The present work is divided in two main experimental stages. First, an SPE/HPLC-UV experimental methodology is optimized to detect and quantify 17β-Estradiol (E2) present in aqueous samples. The HPLC-UV operating conditions were selected by performing a screening between 10 different mobile phase compositions. A pure methanol composition was selected based in the lower retention time and the highest UV detector signal. The solid phase extraction optimization involves a three-level Box-Behnken experimental design with four factors (sample volume, sample pH, adsorbent drying time and solvent composition used for the washing step), combined with a response surface methodology. The implementation of the optimized experimental methodology occurred by the monitoring of estradiol in a wastewater influent and effluent samples. E2 was detected and quantified in three different samples collected from three distinct point of a WWTP. Sample 1 was collected from the entrance point, sample 2 was collected from the activated sludge aeration tank and sample 3 was the completely treated effluent. The concentration of E2 found in three points was higher than what was anticipated, but coherent with other works. |
|---|
Funded activities
No funded projects found.