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Great Lakes Pollution Prevention and Toxics Reduction

SETAC Presentations and Abstracts

SESSION CATEGORY: Emerging Pollutants 

SESSION: Endocrine Disruptors Crossing the Ag/Urban Interface: Utilization of Wastewater and Sludges in Agriculture 

TITLE: Distribution of Chemical Contaminants within a Large Wastewater Treatment Plant and in Downstream Surface Waters [PDF 289kb 21 pp]

AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): Todd Nettesheim1, Larry B. Barber2, James L. Gray2, Clifford P. Rice4, Jorge E. Loyo-Rosales6, Lawrence Zintek3, Wayne Whipple3, David Lordi5 

INSTITUTIONS (ALL):

  1. Great Lakes National Program Office, USEPA, Chicago, IL, USA.
  2. USGS, Boulder, CO, USA.
  3. Chicago Regional Laboratory, USEPA, Chicago, IL, USA.
  4. Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD, USA.
  5. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
  6. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

ABSTRACT BODY: Chemical Contaminants can enter the wastewater stream from commercial and residential wastewater, industrial effluent, or air deposition and runoff into urban stormwater drains. During the wastewater treatment process, these substances will be released back to the environment through the final effluent or biosolids product, recycled within the plant, or lost due to transformation or degradation. To better understand the fate and distribution of chemical contaminants in a wastewater treatment plant, a study was recently performed on the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant in cooperation with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Aqueous samples were collected of the influent, primary effluent, mixed liquor, final effluent, centrate, and various supernatants. Solid samples were collected of the primary sludge, waste activated sludge, primary digestion sludge, secondary digestion sludge, centrifuge sludge, lagoon sludge, and final dried sludge. These samples have been analyzed for mercury, PCBs, PBDEs, alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), hormones, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and trace elements. Results of the 3 major sampling events will be presented.

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SESSION CATEGORY: Emerging Pollutants  

SESSION: Sources and Fate of EDCs and Pharmaceuticals in the Environment 

TITLE: Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs), Hormones, and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates (APEs) in the North Shore Channel of the Chicago River [PDF 352kb 23pp]

AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): Todd Nettesheim1, Elizabeth W. Murphy1, Lawrence Zintek2, Larry B. Barber3, James M. Lazorchak4, Angela L. Batt4, Marc A. Mills5, Clifford P. Rice6, Heiko L. Schoenfuss7, David T. Lordi8, Sam Dennison8, Tom Minarik8 

INSTITUTIONS (ALL):

  1. Great Lakes National Program Office, USEPA, Chicago, IL, USA.
  2. Chicago Regional Laboratory, USEPA, Chicago, IL, USA.
  3. USGS, Boulder, CO, USA.
  4. ORD NERL, USEPA, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
  5. ORD NRMRL, USEPA, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
  6. Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD, USA.
  7. St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN, USA.
  8. Research and Development, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Cicero, IL, USA.

ABSTRACT BODY: U.S. EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) developed a study on the North Shore Channel to supplemental a national study that is determining the occurrence of 39 PPCPs in composited fish fillets and liver samples from five sites (plus one reference site) where waters are dominated by waste water treatment plant (WWTP) effluents. The supplemental study on the North Shore Channel is a collaborative partnership between GLNPO, U.S. EPA Chicago Regional Laboratory (CRL), the U.S. EPA Office of Water, the U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, USGS, USDA, St. Cloud State, Baylor University, Clarkson University, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The three main objectives of the supplemental study are to: (1) determine if there is reproductive impairment to resident fish; (2) estimate effluent and stream concentrations of PPCPs, APEs, and hormones; and (3) document seasonal differences in concentrations of these compounds in effluent, stream, and fish. Reproductive impairment was assessed by examining fish gonads for evidence of imposex, analyzing male fish blood for vitellogenin (vtg) - an egg yolk precursor protein expressed only in female fish and is normally dormant in male fish, and examining the livers for abnormalities. Whole fish were homogenized and analyzed for APEs, hormones, and over 100 additional PPCPs. Effluent and stream samples were also analyzed for APEs, hormones, and over 100 additional PPCPs. The first effluent, stream, and fish sampling event occurred in September and October 2006. The second effluent, stream, and fish sampling event occurred in March and April 2007. The preliminary results from these 2 sampling events will be presented.

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