Concentrations of substituted diphenylamine antioxidants (SDPAs) and benzotriazole UV stabilizers (BZT UVs) in Canadian Wastewater Treatment Plant influent, effluent and biosolids

Substituted diphenylamine antioxidants (SDPAs) and benzotriazole UV stabilizers (BZT-UVs) are additives used in industrial and consumer products to prevent degradation or colour change of materials, but their environmental fate and disposition are not well characterized. In this study, SDPAs and BZT-UVs were analyzed in liquid and solid samples collected from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Canada to investigate the occurrence and fate of these contaminants. SDPAs and BZT-UVs were effectively removed from the liquid stream in most WWTPs mainly through sludge sorption and separation, but biotransformation, UV treatment and filtration may also contribute to removal of some contaminants in advanced treatment plants. In contrast, the removal efficiency of target contaminants using chemically assisted primary treatment was low, likely due to the short hydraulic retention time of this site. Our results suggest that wastewater effluent is a vector of SDPAs and BZT-UVs to the aquatic environment. The results also highlight the high concentrations of SDPAs and BZT-UVs associated with the solid stream in WWTPs, which could affect the beneficial use of biosolids (e.g., compost or…

Publisher

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Resources

12

Catalogue metadata updated

2021-07-22