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Poor elimination rates in waste water treatment plants lead to continuous emission of deoxynivalenol into the aquatic environment.
Journal article

Poor elimination rates in waste water treatment plants lead to continuous emission of deoxynivalenol into the aquatic environment.

  • Wettstein FE Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon, Research Station ART, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland.
  • Bucheli TD
  • 2010-06-16
Published in:
  • Water research. - 2010
Feces
Fusarium
Humans
Kinetics
Mycotoxins
Trichothecenes
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Water Pollution
Water Purification
English Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most prominent mycotoxins generated by fungi of the generus Fusarium on crops. Its presence in surface waters was recently demonstrated. Here, we elucidate the occurrence and behaviour of DON in three Swiss waste water treatment plants (WWTP) as a result of human consumption and excretion. DON was shown to be omnipresent in the primary effluent samples of these WWTP in concentrations from 32 to 118 ng/L. Corresponding loads were a factor of 1.3-2.3 higher than predicted based on human excretion data from the literature. DON elimination rates in WWTP ranged from 33 to 57%. These rather low percentages were confirmed with a further, more detailled study conducted at WWTP Kloten/Opfikon (average elimination rate 32%). The relative importance of WWTP as a source of DON in surface waters was compared with agricultural emissions due to runoff from Fusarium infected crops. Both sources seem to contribute equally to the total DON exposure of surface waters of a few ng/L, however, their input dynamics vary considerably in space and time.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/279065
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