Occurrence and Fate of Emerging Wastewater Contaminants in Western Balkan Region

Terzić, Senka; Senta, Ivan; Ahel, Marijan; Gros, Meritxell; Petrović, Mira; Barcelo, Damia; Müller, Jutta; Knepper, Thomas; Martí, Isabel; Ventura, Francesc; Jovančić, Petar; Jabučar, Dalila (2008) Occurrence and Fate of Emerging Wastewater Contaminants in Western Balkan Region. Science of the total environment, 399 (1-3). pp. 66-77. ISSN 0048-9697

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Abstract

This paper reports on a comprehensive reconnaissance of over seventy individual wastewater contaminants in the region of Western Balkan (WB ; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia), including some prominent classes of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, surfactants and their degradation products, plasticizers, pesticides, insect repellents, and flame retardants. All determinations were carried out using a multiresidue analytical approach, based on the application of gas chromatographic and liquid chromatographic techniques coupled to mass spectrometric detection. The results confirmed a widespread occurrence of the emerging contaminants in municipal wastewaters of the region. The most prominent contaminant classes, determined in municipal wastewaters, were those derived from aromatic surfactants, including linear alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS) and alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEO), with the concentrations in raw wastewater reaching into the mg/l range. All other contaminants were present in much lower concentrations, rarely exceeding few μ g/l. The most abundant individual compounds belonged to several classes of pharmaceuticals (antimicrobials, analgesics and antiinflammatories, b-blockers and lipid regulators) and personal care products (fragrances). Due to the rather poor wastewater management practices in WB countries, with less than 5 % of all wastewaters being biologically treated, most of the contaminants present in wastewaters reach ambient waters and may represent a significant environmental concern

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

This work was performed within the framework of the EU FP6 STREP project on the Reduction of Environmental Risks, Posed by Emerging Contaminants, through Advanced Treatment of Municipal and Industrial Wastes (EMCO) (INCO-CT-2004-509188). The financial support of Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (Project No. 098-0982934-2712) is also acknowledged.

Uncontrolled Keywords:

emerging contaminants; pharmaceuticals; personal care products; surfactants; gas chomatography/mass spectrometry; liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry; Western Balkan

Subjects:

NATURAL SCIENCES > Geology
NATURAL SCIENCES > Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences > Environmental Science

Divisions:

Division for Marine and Enviromental Research

Projects: