Wastewater reclamation and reuse for agriculture has been attracting a great deal of interests, due to the increasing water demanding for growing agricultural crops. However, the application of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation can lead to the bioaccumulation of trace organic chemicals in the agricultural crops and consequent human exposure. In this study, a mathematical model was developed to evaluate the fate of five trace organic chemicals, namely triclosan (TCS), carbamazepine (CBZ), naproxen (NPX), gemfibrozil (GFB), and fluoxetine (FXT) during wastewater reuse for agriculture, as well as consequent human exposure and health risk. Under the set up of a reclaimed-water-irrigated local farm, it took 100 – 535 days for the compounds to achieve steady-state concentrations of 1.41×10-3, 4.73×10-2, 1.17×10-3, 1.53×10-2, and 7.38×10-3 µg/kg for TCS, CBZ, NPX, GFB, and FXT in soils, respectively. The soil concentrations were critically governed by the degradation rate of compounds in soils. The steady-state concentration of trace organics in plant (alfalfa) and grazing animal (beef) ranged 6.69×10-5 – 9.30×10-1 and 1.41×10-8 – 3.65×10-3 µg/kg, respectively. Human exposure to these compounds was calculated to be 1.04×10-21 – 4.40×10-5 µg/kg/d, much lower than the acceptable daily intake (ADI). Screening analysis showed that the compounds with relatively higher Kow and lower degradation rates have a higher tendency to be transferred to human beings and cause health risks. Our study established a modeling method for evaluating the fate and human health effects of trace organic compounds in reclaimed water reuse for the agricultural systems.

Evaluation for the fate and health impacts of trace organic chemicals in the reclaimed wastewater reused for agriculture

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.