Abstract
Triclosan is an antimicrobial agent which is widely used in many personal care products. This toxic chemical is frequently found in the aquatic environment. The municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent has been reported to be one of the major sources for triclosan in the aquatic system. The aim of the present study was to investigate the accumulation of triclosan in the surface sediments near the outfalls of the five major municipal WWTPs of Nanjing, China, as well as to evaluate its potential ecological risk. The concentration of triclosan in the sediment samples ranged from 48.3 to 226 ng/g dry weight, which was well correlated with the acute and genetic toxicity by bioassay. The results suggested that triclosan released from municipal WWTPs could accumulate in the surface sediments nearby and may pose undetermined risk to aquatic organisms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bedoux G, Roig B, Thomas O, Dupont V, Le Bot B (2012) Occurrence and toxicity of antimicrobial triclosan and by-products in the environment. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 19:1044–1065
Bester K (2005) Fate of triclosan and triclosan-methyl in sewage treatment plants and surface waters. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 49:9–17
Binelli A, Cogni D, Parolini M, RivaC Provini A (2009) Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of in vitro exposure to triclosan and trimethoprim on zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) hemocytes. Comp Biochem Physiol Part C Toxicol Pharmacol 150:50–56
Chalew TEA, Halden RU (2009) Environmental exposure of aquatic and terrestrial biota to triclosan and triclocarban. JAWRA J Am Water Res Assoc 45:4–13
Chen L, Yu C, Shen C, Zhang C, Liu L, Shen K, Tang X, Chen Y (2010) Study on adverse impact of e-waste disassembly on surface sediment in East China by chemical analysis and bioassays. J Soil Sediment 10:359–367
Chen L, Yu C, Shen C, Cui J, Chen C, Chen Y (2012) Occurrence of (anti)estrogenic effects in surface sediment from an E-waste disassembly region in East China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 89:161–165
Chen F, Ying GG, Ma YB, Chen ZF, Lai HJ, Peng FJ (2014) Field dissipation and risk assessment of typical personal care products TCC, TCS, AHTN and HHCB in biosolid-amended soils. Sci Total Environ 470–471:1078–1086
Cortez FS, Pereira CDS, Aldo RSB, Cesar A, Choueri RB, Martini GD, Bohrer-Morel MB (2012) Biological effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of the pharmaceutical triclosan in the marine mussel Perna perna (Linnaeus, 1758). Environ Pollut 168:145–150
Dann AB, Hontela A (2011) Triclosan: environmental exposure, toxicity and mechanisms of action. J Appl Toxicol 31:285–311
Gaume B, Bourgougnon N, Auzoux-Bordenave S, Roig B, LeBot B, Bedoux G (2012) In vitro effects of triclosan and methyl-triclosan on the marine gastropod Haliotis tuberculata. Comp Biochem Physiol Part C Toxicol Pharmacol 156:87–94
Gautam P, Carsella JS, Kinney CA (2014) Presence and transport of the antimicrobials triclocarban and triclosan in a wastewater-dominated stream and freshwater environment. Water Res 48:247–256
Heidler J, Halden RU (2008) Meta-analysis of mass balances examining chemical fate during wastewater treatment. Environ Sci Technol 42:6324–6332
Higgins CP, Paesani ZJ, Chalew TEA, Halden RU, Hundal LS (2011) Persistence of triclocarban and triclosan in soils after land application of biosolids and bioaccumulation in Eisenia foetida. Environ Toxicol Chem 30:556–563
Hwang J, Suh SS, Chang M, Yun Park S, Ryu TK, Lee S, Lee TK (2014) Effects of triclosan on reproductive prarmeters and embryonic development of sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus nudus. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 100:148–152
Kumar V, Chakraborty A, Kural MR, Roy P (2009) Alteration of testicular steroidogenesis and histopathology of reproductive system in male rats treated with triclosan. Reprod Toxicol 27:177–185
Loos R, Carvalho R, António DC, Comero S, Locoro G, Tavazzi S, Paracchini B, Ghiani M, Lettieri T, Blaha L, Jarosova B, Voorspoels S, Servaes K, Haglund P, Fick J, Lindberg RH, Schwesig D, Gawlik BM (2013) EU-wide monitoring survey on emerging polar organic contaminants in wastewater treatment plant effluents. Water Res 47:6475–6487
Ma M, Tong Z, Wang Z, Zhu W (1999) Acute toxicity bioassay using the freshwater luminescent bacterium Vibrio-qinghaiensis sp. Nov.-Q67. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 62:247–253
Matsumura N, Ishibashi H, Hirano M, Nagao Y, Watanabe N, Shiratsuchi H, Kai T, Nishimura T, Kashiwagi A, Arizono K (2005) Effects of nonylphenol and triclosan on production of plasma vitellogenin and testosterone in male South African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). Biol Pharm Bull 28:1748–1751
Montagner CC, Jardim WF, Von der Ohe PC, Umbuzeiro GA (2014) Occurrence and potential risk of triclosan in freshwaters of São Paulo, Brazil the need for regulatory actions. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 21:1850–1858
Oliveira R, Domingues I, Grisolia CK, Soares AM (2009) Effects of triclosan on zebrafish early-life stages and adults. Environ Sci Pollut Res 16:679–688
Palenske NM, Nallani GC, Dzialowski EM (2010) Physiological effects and bioconcentration of triclosan on amphibian larvae. Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol 152:232–240
Store DA (1984) A simple high sample volume ashing procedure for determination of soil organic matter. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 15:759–772
Stumm W, Morgan JJ (1995) Aquatic chemistry: chemical equilibria and rates in natural waters. Wiley, New York, pp 873–899
Tixier C, Singer HP, Canonica S, Mueller SR (2002) Phototransformation of triclosan in surface waters: a relevant elimination process for this widely used biocides laboratory studies, field measurements, and modeling. Environ Sci Technol 36:3482–3489
Wang JX, Wu WZ, Henkelmann B, You L, Kettrup A, Schramm KW (2003) Presence of estrogenic activity from emission of fossil fuel combustion as detected by a recombinant yeast bioassay. Atmos Environ 37:3225–3235
Wang XK, Jiang XJ, Wang YN, Sun J, Wang C, Shen TT (2014) Occurrence, distribution, and multi-phase partitioning of triclocarban and triclosan in an urban river receiving wastewater treatment plants effluent in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 21:7065–7074
Zhao J, Zhang Q, Chen F, Wang L, Ying GG, Liu Y, Yang B, Zhou L, Liu S, Su H, Zhang R (2013) Evaluation of triclosan and triclocarban at river basin scale using monitoring and modeling tools: implications for controlling of urban domestic sewage discharge. Water Res 47:395–405
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41301545), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20130961), and Natural Science Foundation of the Higher Education Institutions of Jiangsu Province (No. 13KJB610007). The authors also want to thank Peter Edwards for language editing for this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, L., Wang, Z., Jing, Z. et al. Accumulation and Risk of Triclosan in Surface Sediments Near the Outfalls of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 95, 525–529 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1630-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1630-5