Diagnosis and ecotoxicological risk assessment of 49 elements in sludge from wastewater treatment plants of Chongqing and Xiamen cities, China
Journal
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Journal Volume
25
Journal Issue
29
Pages
29006-29016
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Abstract
Limited information about the sludge quality is a major constraint for its usage and proper disposal. This study investigated the occurrence of 49 elements in sludge from 11 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Chongqing and Xiamen cities of China. The concentration of 46-detected elements ranged from 16.2 μg kg−1 (Pt) to 55.0 g kg−1 (Al) on dry solid basis in the sludge. The enrichment factor of most of the elements was > 1.5, indicating their possible anthropogenic origin. The precious metals had considerably higher enrichment factor ranging from 56.3 to 200,000. Principal component analysis clustered the samples from Chongqing and Xiamen separately to suggest strong spatial variations. Contamination factor, pollution loading index, and integrated pollution degree were calculated to evaluate the elemental pollution risk. The pollution loading index indicated unpolluted to highly polluted levels of the elements in the sludge. In addition, results from the ecotoxicological risk index showed an individual low to very high ecotoxicological risk posed by eight metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in the WWTPs. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
Subjects
Ecotoxicological risk; Elements; Pollution indices; Sludge
Other Subjects
chemical element; concentration (composition); detection method; ecotoxicology; human activity; index method; risk assessment; sludge; spatial variation; waste disposal; wastewater treatment; wastewater treatment plant; China; Chongqing; Fujian; Xiamen; heavy metal; metal; analysis; chemistry; China; city; ecotoxicology; principal component analysis; procedures; risk assessment; sewage; toxicity; water pollutant; China; Cities; Ecotoxicology; Metals; Metals, Heavy; Principal Component Analysis; Risk Assessment; Sewage; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Water Pollutants, Chemical
Type
journal article