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Decontamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nonylphenol from sewage sludge using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and evaluation of the toxicity of leachates

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Abstract

A decontamination technique based in cyclodextrin extraction has been developed to eliminate nonylphenol (NP) and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; the US Environmental Protection Agency priority pollutants list) from sewage sludge. In a first step, PAHs and NP were characterised in six sludges to determine contamination levels according to limit values proposed by the European Union Sludge Directive draft. There were few variations in the total PAHs content with levels of 1.88 to 3.05 mg kg−1. Three-ring PAHs predominated, but fluoranthene and pyrene were also present. None of the sludge exceeded the PAHs limit proposed by the European Union’s draft Directive. On the contrary, NP content in four of the six sludges was over the recommended limits of 50 mg kg-1 for NP ethoxylates. With the aim of obtaining NP values below the concentration limits proposed to use the sewage sludge as agricultural amendments, a preliminary study using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPBCD) extractions as a decontamination technique was carried out. About 90 % of NP content was removed with only one extraction with HPBCD, whereas after three sequential extractions using an aqueous solution without HPBCD, the NP extraction percentage was less than 1 %. Simultaneously, PAHs extraction percentages obtained with HPBCD were also much higher than when aqueous solution was used, especially in the case of two- and three-ring PAHs. Finally, the potential environmental hazard of HPBCD leachates to aquatic organisms (Daphnia magna) was tested. These results indicate that the treatment of sewage sludge with cyclodextrin could allow their safe use as fertiliser in agriculture.

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Acknowledgements

Support from projects CTM2006-04626 and CTM2009-07335, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (co-funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER), are greatly appreciated. M.A. Sánchez-Trujillo acknowledges a research contract from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC, JAEPre 0800763) cofinanced by Fondo Social Europeo (FSE).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville (IRNAS-CSIC), Apdo. 1052, 41080, Seville, Spain

    Maria Antonia Sánchez-Trujillo, Jaime Villaverde & Esmeralda Morillo

  2. Department of Environmental Chemistry, (IDAEA-CSIC), Jordi Girona, 18-26, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Silvia Lacorte & Carlos Barata

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  1. Maria Antonia Sánchez-Trujillo
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  2. Silvia Lacorte
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  3. Jaime Villaverde
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  4. Carlos Barata
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  5. Esmeralda Morillo
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Correspondence to Esmeralda Morillo.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Sánchez-Trujillo, M.A., Lacorte, S., Villaverde, J. et al. Decontamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nonylphenol from sewage sludge using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and evaluation of the toxicity of leachates. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 507–517 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1930-4

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