ARS | Publication request: Removal of two antibacterial compounds triclocarban and triclosan in a waste water treatment plant

Submitted to: American Chemical Society National Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: July 20, 2009
Publication Date: August 16, 2009
Citation: Lozano, N., Rice, C., Ramirez, M., Torrents, A. 2009. Removal of two antibacterial compounds triclocarban and triclosan in a waste water treatment plant. American Chemical Society National Meeting. 238:412.

Technical Abstract: This study investigates the fate of Triclocarban (TCC) and Triclosan (TCS) in a waste water treatment plant (WWTP). Our goal was to identify the most effective removal step and to determine the amount on the solid phase versus degraded. Our influent contained higher TCS than TCC concentrations (8.06 and 4.65 µg/L respectively) and 82.4% of TCS and 89.9% of TCC on the suspended solids. Primary treatment was most effective in removing the TCS and TCC as suspended soils. TCS concentrations in the primary and secondary sludge were 23.7 and 16.0 mg/Kg d.w. and for TCC were 14.4 and 9.96 mg/Kg d.w., respectively. The most effective steps at reducing dissolved TCC and TCS were activated sludge and nitrification-denitrification processes. Concentrations in the final effluent were 173.8 ng\L for TCS and 129.6 ng\L for TCC. Our data suggest that despite the fact that most TCC and TCS are eliminated from the liquid phase, they are still present at high concentrations in the biosolids.