Fate of Contaminants of Emerging Environmental Concern (CEECs) During Drinking Water Treatment Processes

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Liu, Yi
- Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Abstract

Many new chemicals, designed to improve quality of life, and their metabolites are released into the aquatic environment through many pathways and become contaminants of emerging environmental concern (CEECs). Six CEECs (atorvastatin, caffeine, fluoxetine, iohexol, tetracycline and tetrabromobisphenol A), selected for their diverse structure and high use, were evaluated at bench scale for removal from water during coagulation and use of powdered activated carbon (PAC), while chlorination and ultraviolet treatment were evaluated for byproduct formation. Although coagulation was found to be ineffective, PAC was effective and is recommended for removing CEECs from drinking water before disinfection. Chlorination and UV byproduct structures are proposed from infusion-based tandem mass spectrometry results. Tetracycline was studied in more detail and chlorination byproducts included chloroform. A kinetic study evaluating chloroform and total organic halogen formation from chlorination of tetracycline at two different pH (7 and 9) revealed elevated levels for both at pH 7.

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