Many manmade chemicals used in consumer products are ultimately washed down the drain and are collected in municipal sewers. Efficient chemical monitoring at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) thus may provide up-to-date information on chemical usage rates for epidemiological assessments. The objective of the present study was to extrapolate this concept, termed 'sewage epidemiology', to include municipal sewage sludge (MSS) for identifying and prioritizing contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). In a strategic effort, our research team at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University (ASU) has created the National Sewage Sludge Repository (NSSR), a large repository of digested MSSs from 168 WWTPs from across the United States. The NSSR likely represents the largest archive of digested MSS specimens in the U.S. A total of 231CECs were screened in MSS samples that include: pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs), alkylphenols and their ethoxylates (AP & APEOs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), hormones and brominated dioxins and furans (Br-D/Fs). APs & APEOs represented the most abundant group of CECs in U.S. MSS, followed by PPCPs and BFRs. Chemicals monitored in this study were calculated to contribute about 0.04�0.15% of the total dry mass of MSS produced in the U.S. annually, a mass equivalent to 0.4�1.5 g/kg of dry weight sludge and nationwide a total of 2,614�7,905 metric tonnes of chemicals annually. In addition, a comparison of the spectrum of chemicals (n=52) analyzed in nationally representative biological specimens from humans and MSS revealed 70% overlap. This observed co-occurrence of contaminants in both matrices suggests that MSS may serve as an indicator for ongoing exposures and body burdens of pollutants in humans. This novel approach in sewage epidemiology may serve to pre-screen and prioritize the several thousands of known or suspected CECs to identify those that are most prone to pose a risk to human health and the environment. The present study additionally informs the risk assessment of chemicals by furnishing national inventories of CECs occurrence and environmental release via MSS application on land.

Nationwide occurrence, release inventories, and prioritization of emerging contaminants in U.S. sewage sludges: Results from the National Sewage Sludge Repository of Arizona State University

248th National Meeting (2014)

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