R. D. Tyagi

Engineered nanoparticles in wastewater and wastewater sludge--evidence and impacts.

Nanotechnology has widespread application in agricultural, environmental and industrial sectors ranging from fabrication of molecular assemblies to microbial array chips. Despite the booming application of nanotechnology, there have been serious implications which are coming into light in the recent years within different environmental compartments, namely air, water and soil and its likely impact on the human health. Health and environmental effects of common metals and materials are well-known, however, when the metals and materials take the form of nanoparticles--consequential hazards based on shape and size are yet to be explored. The nanoparticles released from different nanomaterials used in our household and industrial commodities find their way through waste disposal routes into the wastewater treatment facilities and end up in wastewater sludge. Further escape of these nanoparticles into the effluent will contaminate the aquatic and soil environment. Hence, an understanding of the presence, behavior and impact of these nanoparticles in wastewater and wastewater sludge is necessary and timely. Despite the lack of sufficient literature, the present review attempts to link various compartmentalization aspects of the nanoparticles, their physical properties and toxicity in wastewater and wastewater sludge through simile drawn from other environmental streams.

Physico-chemical pre-treatment and biotransformation of wastewater and wastewater sludge - fate of bisphenol A.

Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting compound largely used in plastic and paper industry, ends up in aquatic systems via wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) among other sources. The identification and quantification of BPA in wastewater (WW) and wastewater sludge (WWS) is of major interest to assess the endocrine activity of treated effluent discharged into the environment. Many treatment technologies, including various pre-treatment methods, such as hydrolysis, Fenton oxidation, peroxidation, ultrasonication and ozonation have been developed in order to degrade BPA in WW and WWS and for the production of WWS based value-added products (VAPs). WWS based VAPs, such as biopesticides, bioherbicides, biofertilizers, bioplastics and enzymes are low cost biological alternatives that can compete with chemicals or other cost intensive biological products in the current markets. However, this field application is disputable due to the presence of these organic compounds which has been discussed with a perspective of simultaneous degradation. The pre-treatment produces an impact on rheology as well as value-addition which has been reviewed in this paper. Various analytical techniques available for the detection of BPA in WW and WWS are also discussed. Presence of heavy metals and possible thermodynamical behavior of the compound in WW and WWS can have major impact on BPA removal, which is also included in the review.

Analysis and advanced oxidation treatment of a persistent pharmaceutical compound in wastewater and wastewater sludge-carbamazepine

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are considered as emerging environmental problem due to their continuous input and persistence to the aquatic ecosystem even at low concentrations. Among them, carbamazepine (CBZ) has been detected at the highest frequency, which ends up in aquatic systems via wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) among other sources. The identification and quantification of CBZ in wastewater (WW) and wastewater sludge (WWS) is of major interest to assess the toxicity of treated effluent discharged into the environment. Furthermore, WWS has been subjected for re-use either in agricultural application or for the production of value-added products through the route of bioconversion. However, this field application is disputable due to the presence of these organic compounds and in order to protect the ecosystem or end users, data concerning the concentration, fate, behavior as well as the perspective of simultaneous degradation of these compounds is urgently necessary. Many treatment technologies, including advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been developed in order to degrade CBZ in WW and WWS. AOPs are technologies based on the intermediacy of hydroxyl and other radicals to oxidize recalcitrant, toxic and non-biodegradable compounds to various by-products and eventually to inert end products. The purpose of this review is to provide information on persistent pharmaceutical compound, carbamazepine, its ecological effects and removal during various AOPs of WW and WWS. This review also reports the different analytical methods available for quantification of CBZ in different contaminated media including WW and WWS.

Extraction and Analysis of Polyphenols: Recent trends

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in diets rich in fruits and vegetables and this is mostly due to their presumed role in the prevention of various degenerative diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This is mainly due to the presence of bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, carotenoids, among others. Polyphenols are one of the main classes of secondary metabolites derived from plants offering several health benefits resulting in their use as functional foods. Prior to the use of these polyphenols in specific applications, such as food, pharmaceutical, and the cosmetic industries, they need to be extracted from the natural matrices, then analyzed and characterized. The development of an efficient procedure for the extraction, proper analysis, and characterization of phenolic compounds from different sources is a challenging task due to the structural diversity of phenolic compounds, a complex matrix, and their interaction with other cellular components. In this light, this review discusses different methods of extraction, analysis, and the structural characterization of polyphenolic compounds.

Influence of ultrasonication and Fenton oxidation pre-treatment on rheological characteristics of wastewater sludge

The effect of ultrasonication and Fenton oxidation as physico-chemical pre-treatment processes on the change of rheology of wastewater sludge was investigated in this study. Pre-treated and raw sludges displayed non-Newtonian rheological behaviour with shear thinning as well as thixotropic properties for total solids ranging from 10 g/L to 40 g/L. The rheological models, namely, Bingham plastic, Casson law, NCA/CMA Casson, IPC Paste, and power law were also studied to characterize flow of raw and pre-treated sludges. Among all rheological models, the power law was more prominent in describing the rheology of the sludges. Pre-treatment processes resulted in a decrease in pseudoplasticity of sludge due to the decrease in consistency index K varying from 42.4 to 1188, 25.6 to 620.4 and 52.5 to 317.9; and increase in flow behaviour index n changing from 0.5 to 0.35, 0.62 to 0.55 and 0.63 to 0.58, for RS, UlS and FS, respectively at solids concentration 10-40 g/L. The correlation between improvement of biodegradability and dewaterability, decrease in viscosity, and change in particle size as a function of sludge pre-treatment process was also investigated. Fenton oxidation facilitated sludge filterability resulting in capillary suction time values which were approximately 50% of the raw sludges, whereas ultrasonication with high input energy deteriorated the filterability. Biodegradability was also enhanced by the pre-treatment processes and the maximum value was obtained (64%, 77% and 73% for raw, ultrasonicated and Fenton oxidized sludges, respectively) at total solids concentration of 25 g/L. Hence, pre-treatment of wastewater sludge modified the rheological properties so that: (1) the flowability of sludge was improved for transport through the treatment train (via pipes and pumps); (2) the dewaterability of wastewater sludge was enhanced for eventual disposal and; (3) the assimilation of nutrients by microorganisms for further value-addition was increased.

Ultrasonication of wastewater sludge - consequences on biodegradability and flowability.

The present study deals with pre-treatment of wastewater sludge by ultrasonic waves at frequency of 20 kHz using fully automated lab-scale ultrasonication equipment. Different wastewater sludge solids concentrations, ultrasonication intensities, and exposure times of pre-treatment were investigated for the optimization of ultrasonication treatment process. The parameters of pre-treatment process were optimized by using response surface methodology. A 2(3) central composite design was performed for optimization. The screening experiment step comprised steepest ascent methodology to determine optimal domain. The effect of ultrasonication treatment was assessed in terms of increase in soluble solids and the biodegradability of the wastewater sludge. In addition, rheological parameter of wastewater sludge, namely, viscosity was also measured to ascertain the suitability of wastewater sludge for conventional treatment processes as well as submerged fermentation, a major step for the production of value-added products from sludge. It was observed that the ultrasonication intensity and pre-treatment exposure time significantly affected the efficiency of the ultrasonication process followed by the solids concentration. The optimal conditions of ultrasonic pre-treatment were 0.75 W/cm(2) ultrasonication intensity, 60 min, and 23 g/L total solids concentration. The increases in soluble chemical oxygen demand and biodegradability, by aerobic sludge digestion process, in terms of total solids consumption increased by 45.5% and 56%, respectively. The flowability of ultrasonicated sludge in terms of viscosity showed exponential behaviour at different total solids concentrations, and pseudoplastic and thixotropic behaviour similar to raw sludge. Nevertheless, the magnitude of viscosity values of ultrasonicated sludge was always lower than the raw sludge.

Simultaneous sewage sludge digestion and metal leaching: effect of aeration

The effect of temperature on the simultaneous sewage sludge digestion and metal leaching process was studied in laboratory bioreactors of 20 l working volume. The results thus obtained showed that the process can be employed efficiently for metal solubilization, elimination of indicator microorganisms and sewage sludge stabilization at temperatures between 10°C and 30°C. Rates of pH reduction, sulfur oxidation, growth of thiobacilli, elimination of indicator microorganisms and solids degradation were found to decrease with temperature. Low metal solubilization efficiency was observed at 10°C; however, metals were solubilized to below the recommended level. The solubilization of organic matter and nutritive elements (N, P and K) was not significantly affected by the variation in temperature. The fertilizer value of sludge after leaching and digestion did not change significantly and remained the same irrespective of temperature. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** AG903078 00005

Concomitant degradation of bisphenol A during ultrasonication and Fenton oxidation and production of biofertilizer from wastewater sludge

Degradation of bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor, from wastewater sludge (WWS) has attracted great interest recently. In the present study, the effects of different pre-treatment methods, including ultrasonication (US), Fentons oxidation (FO) and ferro-sonication (FS) was assessed in terms of increase in solubilization of WWS and simultaneous degradation of BPA. Among US, FO and FS pre-treatment, higher suspended solids (SS), volatile suspended solids (VSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and soluble organic carbon (SOC) solubilization (39.7%, 51.2%, 64.5% and 17.6%, respectively) was observed during a ferro-sonication pre-treatment process carried out for 180 min, resulting in higher degradation of BPA (82.7%). In addition, the effect of rheological parameters (viscosity and particle size) and zeta potential on the degradation of BPA in raw and different pre-treated sludges were also investigated. The results showed that a decrease in viscosity and particle size and an increase in zeta potential resulted in higher degradation of BPA. BPA degradation by laccases produced by Sinorhizobium meliloti in raw and pre-treated sludge was also determined. Higher activity of laccases (207.9 U L(-1)) was observed in ferro-sonicated pre-treated sludge (180 min ultrasonic time), resulting in higher removal of BPA (0.083 μg g(-1)), suggesting concomitant biological degradation of BPA.

Carbamazepine in municipal wastewater and wastewater sludge: Ultrafast quantification by laser diode thermal desorption-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

In this study, the distribution of the anti-epileptic drug carbamazepine (CBZ) in wastewater (WW) and aqueous and solid phases of wastewater sludge (WWS) was carried out. A rapid and reliable method enabling high-throughput sample analysis for quicker data generation, detection, and monitoring of CBZ in WW and WWS was developed and validated. The ultrafast method (15s per sample) is based on the laser diode thermal desorption-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (LDTD-APCI) coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The optimization of instrumental parameters and method application for environmental analysis are presented. The performance of the novel method was evaluated by estimation of extraction recovery, linearity, precision and detection limit. The method detection limits was 12 ng L(-1) in WW and 3.4 ng g(-1) in WWS. The intra- and inter-day precisions were 8% and 11% in WW and 6% and 9% in WWS, respectively. Furthermore, three extraction methods, ultrasonic extraction (USE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) with three different solvent condition such as methanol, acetone and acetonitrile:ethyle acetate (5:1, v/v) were compared on the basis of procedural blank and method recovery. Overall, ASE showed the best extraction efficiency with methanol as compared to USE and MAE. Furthermore, the quantification of CBZ in WW and WWS samples showed the presence of contaminant in all stages of the treatment plant.

Indicator bacteria reduction in sewage sludge by a metal bioleaching process

The presence of a potentially toxic concentration of metals and the ineffective destruction of pathogenic microorganisms by conventional sludge stabilization processes limit sewage sludge utilization in agriculture. Therefore, we evaluate the metals bioleaching process potential for the elimination of indicator bacteria (total coliforms, fecal coliforms, fecal streptococci). Physico-chemical sludge characteristics (VS, VSS, soluble carbon and sulfate) as well as metals solubilization were also measured. The results obtained reveal that the high sulfuric acid production (pH < 2.5), as a result of sulfur oxidation by indigenous thiobacilli of sludge, allows a considerable reduction in bacterial indicators (3 log or under the limit detection of 103 cfu/100 ml) for all sludges examined over a 5 day period. Heavy metals were solubilized to levels compatible with recommended norms for intensive sludge agricultural use. Moreover, this process allowed a VSS reduction, which varied according to the sludge used. These results indicate that this process can improve the stabilization of the digested sludge.