Brominated Flame Retardants: An Ongoing Threat to Urban Aquatic Systems

1. Domestic Sewage Secondary Sludge Treatment Industry Waste (pre-treated) Trickling Filter Filtration Storm Water Overflow Alternative Processes Grit Channel Screening Primary Sedimentation Primary Sludge Activated Sludge Settlement Tanks Land Application Recycled AS Drying & Dumping Waste Activated Sludge (AS) AnaerobicDigestion CH4 as Energy Tertiary treatments Discharge to Receiving Water • Brominated Flame Retardants: An Ongoing Threat to Urban Aquatic Systems • Azivy Aziz, Kelly Granberg, and Karl Rockne Introduction TECHNOSPHERE ECOSPHERE PolybrominatedDiphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) 209 BDE congeners Commercial mixtures used in Electronics, Textiles, Plastics for fire protection Bioaccumulation Exposure to humans Saytex102 DE-79 DE-71 Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) interface Focus point for 21st century pollutants Hypotheses • Extensive debromination of PBDEs occurs in anaerobic digesters in WWTPs to more toxic congeners • Domestic wastewater is a primary source of PBDEs to WWTPs BDE 209 BDE 99 BDE 47 Toxicity and bioavailability increases • Tumor, Neurodevelopment, Hormone Imbalance effects Results and Discussion Materials and Methods • Source Apportionment: • Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) multivariate model with non-negative rotations • Factor data matrix into: loading and contribution matrices • Compare with source profiles for identification • Analysis: • Soxhletextraction of PBDEs • Gel permeation and silica gel column cleanup • Instrumental analysis of >40 PBDE congeners by GC/MS-NCI • Sampling: • 3 WWTPs, 3 wastewater feeds • Calumet Water Reclamation Plant (CWRP); mixed industrial, storm, residential feed • Woodridge Green Valley (WGV); residential feed only • Knollwood(KWD) plant; residential feed only • Sludge sampled from all stages of the digesters Dominant congener concentrations in the primary feed of 3 wastewater treatment plants. Residential biosolids are 2-5 times higher in PBDEs than mixed industrial-storm-residential biosolids. PMF indicates SAYTEX and DE-71 are dominant sources to biosolids. In addition, PMF indicates breakdown of PBDE commercial products prior to entering biosolids treatment • PBDEs are present in greater concentration in higher income, residential wastewater • Indicates “pollution of affluence” • Main sources of PBDEs are Saytex102 and Deca71 • Some breakdown already occurring by the time sample arrives • DecaBDEs are broken down in the digester • This is the FIRST REPORT of this activity confirmed in the environment • Bans on DE-71 and DE-79 BDEs WILL NOT be adequate to prevent release of toxic BDE congeners into the environment. Conclusions Total PBDE levels in biosolids are 10-1000 times higher than lake sediment samples! Acknowledgements • Illinois Sustainable Technology Center • Calumet Water Reclamation Plant, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District • Woodridge - Greene Valley waste treatment facility of Dupage county Highly statistically significant increases in lower brominated congener groups relative to BDE-209 in the WGV digestion process. Note log scale on y axis.