Perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate released from a waste water treatment plant in Bavaria, Germany

Purpose

Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and precursors and derivatives thereof have been employed as surfactants and anti-adhesives. PFOA and PFOS are environmentally persistent and the discharge of municipal waste waters is one of the principal routes of these compounds into the aquatic environment. In a previous study, the concentrations of PFOA and PFOS in grab samples collected from the waste water treatment plant (WWTP) of Bayreuth, a city of 72,000 inhabitants in Bavaria, Germany, during two periods showed considerable variability. For a better estimate of average mass flows, the surfactants were monitored (five samplings) from 16 March to 18 May 2007. In a second campaign, river water receiving the WWTP effluent was sampled twice a day for five consecutive days.

Methods

Quantitative analysis was done by stable-isotope dilution, pre-cleaning, and pre-concentration by solid-phase extraction, and liquid chromatography followed by electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry.

Results

The mass flows of PFOA and PFOS through the WWTP were determined. PFOA is fully discharged into the river, while about half of PFOS is retained in the sewage sludge. The average daily mass load of the river Roter Main by the WWTP of Bayreuth is about 1.2?±?0.5 g PFOA and 5?±?2 g PFOS, with variations of up to 140% within one day.

Conclusion

Overall, the total annual release to the rivers of Germany may be in the range of several hundred kilograms of PFOA and several tons of PFOS.     

A theory of chemicals regulation and testing

Risk management of chemicals requires information about their adverse effects such as toxicity and persistence, for example. Testing of chemicals allows for improving the information base for regulatory decision‐making on chemicals' production and use. Testing a large number of chemicals with limited time and resources forces a prioritization of chemicals. This paper proposes a decision model that provides a ranking of chemicals according to “urgency to test”. The model adopts a value‐of‐information approach describing the expected welfare gains from regulatory actions that respond to test information. We determine the value‐of‐information of tests revealing chemicals' levels of toxicity and persistence. We compare our findings to the prioritization of chemicals in the new European Chemicals Regulation “REACH”, where several tens of thousands of chemicals are to be tested in order to fill existing information gaps and to implement more effective risk management. We find that the main lines of chemicals' prioritization under REACH receive backing from our decision model. However, prioritization for testing can be further improved by accounting for testing costs and the sensitivity of regulatory action with respect to the test information.     

Temporal trends and spatial distribution of PCDD, PCDF, and PCB in pine and spruce shoots

In Germany, there is a lack of consistent and comparable data for the time dependent behaviour and spatial distribution of dioxin-like and indicator PCB in ambient air, deposition and plants. The aim of this study was to improve the data on PCDD/PCDF, dioxin-like PCB and non dioxin-like PCB in spruce and pine shoots from different locations and years by retrospective monitoring. The survey was conducted with archived samples of one-year old spruce shoots (Picea abies) and pine shoots (Pinus sylvestris) from the German environmental specimen bank. Two sets of samples from locations in urbanized areas in western and eastern Germany (Warndt and Duebener Heide Mitte, respectively) were investigated as time series. Additionally, spruce shoots from seven different rural locations sampled in the years 2000-2004 were analyzed in order to get an overview about the spatial distribution of PCB and PCDD/PCDF. The analytical results of the samples from the two urbanized areas clearly show that the atmospheric contamination with PCDD and PCDF has declined by about 75% between 1985 and 1997 at Warndt and about 40% between 1991 and 1997 at Duebener Heide. However, concentrations stayed virtually constant at both locations from 1997 to 2004 at a level of about 1 ng WHO-TEQ/kg dry matter (d.m.). Similarly, the investigation of spruce shoots from rural locations from 2000 to 2004 did not reveal a temporal trend at any site. PCDD/PCDF levels were between 0.1 and 1.0 ng WHO-TEQ/kg d.m. At the urbanized location Warndt the six indicator PCB as well as the 12 dioxin-like PCB according to WHO revealed a significant decline by more than 75% between 1985 and 1999. Thereafter, PCB levels stayed virtually constant. At the location Duebener Heide an overall decrease of PCB concentrations in pine shoots of about 60% was detected between 1991 and 2004. Spruce shoots from all locations showed a relevant contribution of dioxin-like PCB to the total WHO toxicity equivalent (PCDD/PCDF+PCB). In most samples, the contribution of dioxin-like PCB was between 21% and 41%. The TEQ contribution of PCB in the samples from three rural sites was higher and similar to the TEQ value of PCDD/PCDF. The investigated pine shoots from the urbanized site Duebener Heide showed a 15-28% contribution of dioxin-like PCB to total TEQ and thus lower than in spruce shoots from different locations. In all samples except one PCB 126 contributed to more than 80% to the PCB-TEQ.     

Altitude-dependent wet,dry and occult nitrogen deposition in an Alpine Region

From November 1995 to October 1996 and from October 1997 to September 1998, samples of wet precipitation, cloud water, as well as of reactive gases and particulate matter, were collected at three elevational levels (920 m, 1280 m and 1758 m a.s.l.) in Achenkirch, Austria. The samples were analysed for ammonium and nitrate in wet precipitation and in cloud water, for ammonia, nitric acid and nitrogen dioxide in the gas phase and for particulate ammonium and particulate nitrate in aerosol. Total nitrogen deposition was calculated combining measured concentrations in wet, dry and occult depositions with the corresponding deposition fluxes. Two multilayer deposition models were used for the calculation of dry and occult deposition. The total nitrogen input in 1995/96 was estimated to be 29 kg N ha⁻¹a⁻¹ at the Christlumkopf station (1758 m), 20 kg N ha⁻¹a⁻¹ at the Christlumalm station (1280 m) and 28 kg N ha⁻¹a⁻¹ at the Talboden station (930 m). Respective data for the 1997/98 observation period were 31 kg N ha⁻¹a⁻¹ at the Christlumkopf station (1758 m) and 18 kg N ha⁻¹a⁻¹ at the Mühleggerköpfl station (920 m). Critical Loads of nitrogen for coniferous forests were exceeded significantly near-source regions represented by areas of intense agricultural use and at high elevation sites.

     

Dealing with Ambivalence: Farmers' and Consumers' Perceptions of Animal Welfare in Livestock Breeding

The results of an empirical study intoperceptions of the treatment of farm animals inthe Netherlands are presented. A qualitativeapproach, based on in-depth interviews withmeat livestock farmers and consumers was chosenin order to assess motivations behindperceptions and to gain insight into the waypeople deal with possible discrepancies betweentheir perceptions and their daily practices.Perceptions are analyzed with the help of aframe of reference, which consists ofvalues, norms, convictions, interests, andknowledge.The perceptions of the interviewed farmersare quite consistent and without exceptionpositive: according to them, nothing is wrongwith animal welfare in livestock breeding. Theperceptions of the consumers we interviewed aremore divergent, but generally negative. Bothgroups show ambivalence as a result ofdiscrepancies between perceptions and behavior.Although the consumers share the impressionthat the living conditions of livestock animalsare far from optimal, most of them still buyand eat meat from the meat industry. Thefarmers believe the welfare of their animals isgood, but, as frequent defensive utterancesshow, they feel uncomfortable with expressed orunexpressed accusations of mistreating animals.The ways the respondents deal with thisambivalence were analysed by drawing ontheories of dissonance reduction and distancing devices.Catherine and Raphaël Larrère(Larrère and Larrère, 2000) argue thatanimal rearing is a hierarchical relationshipwhose rules are to be found in the fiction of adomestic contract. We argue that the questionis not whether there should be a domesticcontract, because such a contract seems alreadyaccepted. However, since values and normsdiffer widely, not only among meat livestockfarmers and consumers, but also amongconsumers, the question remains as to whosevalues and norms should form the basis of thedomestic contract.     

Fate of 14C-bisphenol A in soils

Bisphenol A (BPA; 2,2-(4,4(')-dihydroxydiphenyl)propane) is predominantly used as an intermediate in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Traces of BPA released into the environment can reach the soil via application of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment systems that receive wastewaters containing BPA, or from leachate from uncontrolled landfills. The biodegradability of BPA has been previously investigated in several studies designed to simulate surface waters and biological wastewater treatment systems. However, there is little information available about the fate of BPA in soil. Therefore, laboratory soil degradation and batch adsorption studies were conducted with 14C-BPA and four soils according to international guidelines. The soils represented a broad range of physico-chemical properties. An important result of the degradation study was that, independent of the soil type, 14C-BPA was rapidly dissipated and not detectable in soil extracts following 3 days of incubation. Based on this result, a dissipation half-life of less than 3 days was estimated. The major route of dissipation of 14C-BPA in soil was the formation of bound residues that could not be recovered by exhaustive Soxhlet extraction. 14C-BPA was also shown to be transiently converted to up to five metabolites, but within 3 days, neither 14C-BPA nor 14C-metabolites were detectable in the soils. After 120 days incubation, significant amounts (up to 20% of the radioactivity applied) of the parent compound were recovered as 14CO(2). Soil adsorption experiments indicated that the distribution coefficients (K(oc)) were between 636 and 931, classifying BPA as having low mobility for all tested soils. From the results of this study, it was concluded that if BPA reaches the soil compartment, it is not expected to be stable, mobile, or bioavailable.     

Brominated-chlorinated diphenyl ethers formed by thermolysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers at low temperatures

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a group of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) used mainly as additives in different kinds of plastic material. Various PBDEs are found in all environmental compartments as well as in tissue and blood serum of animals and humans due to their persistence and tendency to bioaccumulate. Emission of PBDEs into the environment can occur during recycling of PBDE-containing plastic material or during their uncontrolled or insufficient combustion as e.g. in accidental fires or landfill fires. Under these circumstances, PBDEs can also function as precursor molecules for the formation of polybrominated dibenzodioxins (PBDDs) and dibenzofurans (PBDFs). In this study, we qualitatively investigated the reaction of two PBDE congeners, 2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromo diphenyl ether (BDE 47) and 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexabromo diphenyl ether (BDE 153), as well as hexabromobenzene (HBB), a flame retardant used in the past, when exposed to temperatures between 250 °C and 500 °C. The formed reaction products were analysed by high resolution gas chromatography–low resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC-LRMS). Among others brominated–chlorinated diphenyl ethers were formed by chlorodebromination of the PBDEs. In addition, thermolysis of BDE 47 and BDE 153 in the presence of tetrachloromethane as model substance for an organic chlorine source was studied. Thermal treatment of HBB resulted in the formation of brominated–chlorinated benzenes.