Removal of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Compounds of Emerging Concern in Public-Owned Sewage Treatment Works: A Review - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 154

TABLE 8.2 (continued)
Review.of.the.Removal.of.Emerging.Chemicals.by.Sorption.and.
Biodegradation.Processes

(A+B)
2 Days a

(A+B)
5Days b

Adsorption
5Days c Sorption d BioDegradation e

Target
Compound Percent Removal Rated as H, M, or L

Triclosan 97 99 97 H L .(Heidler.and.
Halden.2009)
Trimethoprim 19 24 55 L L
Source: . Interpreted. from. the. original. data. of. Snyder,. S.A.. et. al.,. American.
Waterworks.Association.Research.Foundation.(AWWARF),.2007.
Note: . Some. compounds. fell. out. of. these. data. ranges,. and. their. biodegradation.
property.(in. italics ).was.assigned.based.on.other.references.
H,.high;.M,.medium;.l,.low.
a. (A.+.B).2.days.=.Adsorption.+.Biodegradation,.Ambient,.2.days..(Data.taken.from.
Table.11.1.in.Snyder.et.al..[2007].)
b. (A.+.B).5.days.=.Adsorption.+.Biodegradation,.Ambient,.5.days..(Data.taken.from.
Table.11.1.in.Snyder.et.al..[2007].)
c. Adsorption.=.5.days.exposure.data.with.Colorada.River.water,.with.pH.adjusted.
to.2.0..(Data.taken.from.Table.11.1.in.Snyder.et.al..[2007].)
d. Sorption. property. interpreted. as. follows:. Adsorption. <56. set. as. Low. (L);.
Adsorption.>90.set.as.High.(H);.and.in.between.as.Medium.(M).
e. Biodegradation.property.interpreted.as.follows:.with.(A+B).5.days.<80.set.as.Low.
(L);. with. [{(A+B). 2. days}.−.Adsorption]. >12. set. as. High. (H);. and. [{(A+B). 5.
days}.−.{(A+B).2.days}].>6.set.as.Medium.(M).

and. 17-α-ethinyl-estradiol. would. not. be. appreciably. removed. even. after.
48.h.(Ternes.et.al..1999a)..The.results.suggested.that.to.accomplish.the.com-
plete. removal. of. hormones,. a. minimum. hydraulic. retention. time. (HRT). is.
required.
As.demonstrated.in.Table.8.3,.the.PCB.congeners.that.are.more.highly.
chlorinated. adsorb. strongly. to. soil. and. sediment. and. generally. persist.
for.a.long.time.in.the.environment,.but.would.be.removed.from.the.sew-
age. system. as. sludge.. The. various. congeners. in. soil. and. sediment. have.
half-lives.that.extend.from.months.to.years..Adsorption.of.PCBs.into.the.
sludge. generally. increases. according. to. the. extent. of. chlorination. of. the.
congener.and.the.organic.carbon.contents.of.sediment..Volatilization.and.
biodegradation. are. two. very. slow. processes,. which. also. happen. to. be.
the. major. pathways. for. PCB. removal. from. water. and. soil. (Faroon. et. al..
2003)..The.removal.of.antibiotics.such.as.ciproloxacin.and.trimethoprim.
in.the.sewage.system.demonstrated.the.importance.of.sorption.property..
Ciproloxacin.and.trimethoprim.are.antibiotics,.and.thus,.their.biodegra-
dation. rates. during. the. sewage. treatment. process. are. very. low;. the. for-
mer. has. a. high. removal. rate. due. to. its. high. sorption. property. and. also.
has. a. high. afinity. for. soil. but. mainly. accumulates. in. the. topsoil. (Golet.
et. al.. 2003).. The. concentrations. of. ciproloxacin. in. sewage. sludge. and.