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Proposal to optimize ecotoxicological evaluation of wastewater treated by conventional biological and ozonation processes

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Abstract

A mixture of urban and hospital effluents (50 % v/v) was evaluated for ecotoxicity with an advanced bioassay battery. Mixed effluents were tested before any treatment, after biological treatment alone, and after biological treatment followed by a tertiary ozonation (15 mg O3/L). Laying a high value on the continuance of organisms’ fitness, essential to preserve a healthy receiving ecosystem, the main objective of this study was to combine normalized bioassays with newly developed in vivo and in vitro tests in order to assess alteration of embryo development, growth and reproduction, as well as genotoxic effects in aquatic organisms exposed to complex wastewater effluents. Comparison of the bioassays sensitivity was considered. Contrary to the lack of toxicity observed with normalized ecotoxicity tests, endpoints measured on zebrafish embryos such as developmental abnormalities and genotoxicity demonstrated a residual toxicity in wastewater both after a biological treatment followed or not by a tertiary O3 treatment. However, the ozonation step allowed to alleviate the residual endocrine disrupting potential measure in the biologically treated effluent. This study shows that normalized bioassays are not sensitive enough for the ecotoxicological evaluation of wastewaters and that there is a great need for the development of suitable sensitive bioassays in order to characterize properly the possible residual toxicity of treated effluents.

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Funding

This research was financially supported by the French ministry of Ecology (Program 190) for INERIS and the French Ministry of Economy, Industry and Digital within the framework of the project TRIUMPH (TReating Urban Micropollutants and Pharmaceuticals in wastewater) labelled and managed by the European Eureka Cluster ACQUEAU. The experimental pilot plant was hosted into the SIPIBEL field observatory (hospital’s effluents and urban wastewater treatment plants), a French program supported by the Rhone-Mediterranean-Corsica water agency, the Rhône-Alpes Region, and other partners.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 5023 LEHNA, INRA, ENTPE, rue Maurice Audin, 69518, Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, France

    Adriana Wigh, Alain Devaux, Vanessa Brosselin, Antoine Gosset & Sylvie Bony

  2. SUEZ Traitement de l’eau, Direction Technique Innovation, Degrémont SAS 183, avenue du 18 juin 1940, 92508, Rueil-Malmaison, France

    Adriana Gonzalez-Ospina & Bruno Domenjoud

  3. INERIS, Unité d’Ecotoxicologie in vitro et in vivo (ECOT), BP2, 60550, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France

    Selim Aït-Aïssa & Nicolas Creusot

  4. PROVADEMSE, Boulevard Niels Bohr, CS 52132, 69603, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    Christine Bazin

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  1. Adriana Wigh
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  2. Alain Devaux
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  3. Vanessa Brosselin
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  5. Bruno Domenjoud
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  7. Nicolas Creusot
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  8. Antoine Gosset
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  9. Christine Bazin
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  10. Sylvie Bony
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Correspondence to Sylvie Bony.

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Wigh, A., Devaux, A., Brosselin, V. et al. Proposal to optimize ecotoxicological evaluation of wastewater treated by conventional biological and ozonation processes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 3008–3017 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5419-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5419-1

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