Fate of Sulfamethoxazole, 4-Nonylphenol, and 17β-Estradiol in Groundwater Contaminated by Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent
Abstract
Organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) were measured in samples collected from monitoring wells located along a 4.5-km transect of a plume of groundwater contaminated by 60 years of continuous rapid infiltration disposal of wastewater treatment plant effluent. Fifteen percent of the 212 OWCs analyzed were detected, including the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole (SX), the nonionic surfactant degradation product 4-nonylphenol (NP), the solvent tetrachloroethene (PCE), and the disinfectant 1,4-dichlorobenzene (DCB). Comparison of the 2005 sampling results to data collected from the same wells in 1985 indicates that PCE and DCB are transported more rapidly in the aquiferthan NP, consistent with predictions based on compound hydrophobicity. Natural gradient in situ tracer experiments were conducted to evaluate the subsurface behavior of SX, NP, and the female sex hormone 17beta-estradiol (E2) in two oxic zones in the aquifer: (1) a downgradient transition zone at the interface between the contamination plume and the overlying uncontaminated groundwater and (2) a contaminated zone located beneath the infiltration beds, which have not been loaded for 10 years. In both zones, breakthrough curves for the conservative tracer bromide (Br-) and SX were nearly coincident, whereas NP and E2 were retarded relative to Br- and showed mass loss. Retardation was greater in the contaminated zone than in the transition zone. Attenuation of NP and E2 in the aquifer was attributed to biotransformation, and oxic laboratory microcosm experiments using sediments from the transition and contaminated zones show that uniform-ring-labeled 14C 4-normal-NP was biodegraded more rapidly 130-60% recovered as 14CO2 in 13 days) than 4-14C E2 (20-90% recovered as 14CO2 in 54 days). There was little difference in mineralization potential between sites.
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Aerobic sand filters in onsite wastewater treatment systems were shown to remove >90% of steroid estrogens and mass loss of 17β-estradiol was observed in a wastewater treatment plant plume on Cape Cod.
“Aerobic sand filters in onsite wastewater treatment systems were shown to remove N 90% of steroid estrogens (Stanford and Weinberg, 2010) and mass loss of 17βestradiol was observed in a wastewater treatment plant plume on Cape Cod (Barber et al., 2009).”
From Septic systems as sources of organic wastewater compounds in domestic drinking water wells in a shallow sand and gravel aquifer (2016) · cites this paper as Barber et al., 2009
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Barber, L. B., Keefe, S. H., LeBlanc, D. R., Bradley, P. M., Chapelle, F. H., Meyer, M. T., Loftin, K. A., Kolpin, D. W., & Rubio, F.
- Affiliations
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Corresponding author
- Barber, Larry B.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2009-05-20
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 4843-4850
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2117652630
- Cited by
- 122
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 9.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lincoln (University of Nebraska) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Groundwater flow and contamination studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies
- Keywords
- sulfamethoxazole, 4-nonylphenol, estradiol, groundwater contamination, wastewater treatment plant effluent, retardation, biotransformation, biodegradation, tetrachloroethylene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, sex hormones, microcosm experiments, bromide tracer, mass loss
- MeSH terms
- Estradiol, Geography, Massachusetts, Models, Chemical, Phenols, Sewage, Sulfamethoxazole, Waste Disposal, Fluid, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Water Supply, Models, Statistical, Waste Management, Water Purification
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