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Sources of Alkylphenols and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates in Wastewater—A Substance Flow Analysis in Stockholm, Sweden

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Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus

Abstract

This is a study of the sources of alkylphenol and alkylphenol ethoxylates in wastewater, including the new observation that the main contribution is from textiles. Alkylphenols and alkylphenol ethoxylates are widely used chemicals in various applications that are partly under environmental restrictions within Europe. The study sets out to analyze the most important sources of this large group of organic compounds in an urban wastewater system. A substance flow analysis (SFA) of the technosphere in Stockholm, Sweden in 2004 was conducted, allowing a comparison of 13 groups of goods’ emissions to wastewater. It was found that the groups of textiles and cleaning agents were the major sources to wastewater, while the group’s personal care products and paint and lacquers give smaller contributions. The content of alkylphenol ethoxylates in goods, especially in textiles, is a most significant source and is probably valid for other urban areas as well.

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Notes

  1. In this paper all given figures in ton, refer to metric ton.

  2. The Products Register is based on a category code and function system. Here the search excluded codes A–E and included code F and onwards (see Kemi 2007b).

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Acknowledgement

This study was founded by Stockholm City, Stockholm Water Co, Statistics Sweden, and by the Faculty of Natural Science and Technology, University of Kalmar. The authors would like to thank Åsa Andersson for the gathering of data and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (Frida Hök) for sharing data valuable for this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pure and Applied Natural Sciences, University of Kalmar, 391 82, Kalmar, Sweden

    N. Månsson & B. Bergbäck

  2. SCB Statistics Sweden, Box 24 300, 104 51, Stockholm, Sweden

    L. Sörme

  3. Stockholm Water Company, 106 36, Stockholm, Sweden

    C. Wahlberg

Authors
  1. N. Månsson
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  2. L. Sörme
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  3. C. Wahlberg
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  4. B. Bergbäck
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Correspondence to N. Månsson.

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Månsson, N., Sörme, L., Wahlberg, C. et al. Sources of Alkylphenols and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates in Wastewater—A Substance Flow Analysis in Stockholm, Sweden. Water Air Soil Pollut: Focus 8, 445–456 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11267-008-9186-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11267-008-9186-6

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