TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparative assessment of LECA and Spartina maritima to remove emerging organic contaminants from wastewater
AU - Ferreira, Ana Rita
AU - Guedes, Paula
AU - Mateus, Eduardo P.
AU - Ribeiro, Alexandra B.
AU - Couto, Nazaré
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
PY - 2017/3/1
Y1 - 2017/3/1
N2 - The present work aimed to evaluate the capacity of constructed wetlands (CWs) to remove three emerging organic contaminants with different physicochemical properties: caffeine (CAF), oxybenzone (MBPh), and triclosan (TCS). The simulated CWs were set up with a matrix of light expanded clay aggregates (LECA) and planted with Spartina maritima, a salt marsh plant. Controlled experiments were carried out in microcosms using deionized water and wastewater collected at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), with different contaminant mass ranges, for 3, 7, and 14 days. The effects of variables were tested isolatedly and together (LECA and/or S. maritima). The presence of LECA and/or S. maritima has shown higher removal (around 61–97%) of lipophilic compounds (MBPh and TCS) than the hydrophilic compound (CAF; around 19–85%). This was attributed to the fact that hydrophilic compounds are dissolved in the water column, whereas the lipophilic ones suffer sorption processes promoting their removal by plant roots and/or LECA. In the control (only wastewater), a decrease in the three contaminant levels was observed. Adsorption and bio/rhizoremediation are the strongest hypothesis to explain the decrease in contaminants in the tested conditions.
AB - The present work aimed to evaluate the capacity of constructed wetlands (CWs) to remove three emerging organic contaminants with different physicochemical properties: caffeine (CAF), oxybenzone (MBPh), and triclosan (TCS). The simulated CWs were set up with a matrix of light expanded clay aggregates (LECA) and planted with Spartina maritima, a salt marsh plant. Controlled experiments were carried out in microcosms using deionized water and wastewater collected at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), with different contaminant mass ranges, for 3, 7, and 14 days. The effects of variables were tested isolatedly and together (LECA and/or S. maritima). The presence of LECA and/or S. maritima has shown higher removal (around 61–97%) of lipophilic compounds (MBPh and TCS) than the hydrophilic compound (CAF; around 19–85%). This was attributed to the fact that hydrophilic compounds are dissolved in the water column, whereas the lipophilic ones suffer sorption processes promoting their removal by plant roots and/or LECA. In the control (only wastewater), a decrease in the three contaminant levels was observed. Adsorption and bio/rhizoremediation are the strongest hypothesis to explain the decrease in contaminants in the tested conditions.
KW - Constructed wetlands
KW - Emerging organic contaminants
KW - LECA
KW - Spartina maritima
KW - Wastewater
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85009727719&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11356-017-8452-4
DO - 10.1007/s11356-017-8452-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 28101706
AN - SCOPUS:85009727719
SN - 0944-1344
VL - 24
SP - 7208
EP - 7215
JO - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
IS - 8
ER -