Potential effects of the discharge of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents in benthic communities: evidence from three distinct WWTP systems.

Autor: Silva C; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.; Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal., Santos JI; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.; Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal., Vidal T; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.; Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal., Silva S; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal., Almeida SFP; Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.; GeoBioTec - Geobiociências, Geotecnologias E Geo-Engenharias, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal., Gonçalves FJM; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.; Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal., Abrantes N; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.; Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal., Pereira JL; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal. jpereira@ua.pt.; Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal. jpereira@ua.pt.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental science and pollution research international [Environ Sci Pollut Res Int] 2024 May; Vol. 31 (23), pp. 34492-34506. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 06.
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-33462-z
Abstrakt: Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents can be sources of environmental contamination. In this study, we aimed to understand whether effluents of three different WWTPs may have ecological effects in riverine recipient ecosystems. To achieve this, we assessed benthic phytobenthos and macroinvertebrate communities at three different locations relative to the effluent discharge: immediately upstream, immediately downstream and 500-m downstream the effluent discharge. Two approaches were employed: the ecological status classification as defined in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) based on biological indicators; constrained multivariate analysis to disentangle the environmental drivers (physicochemical variables and contaminants, namely metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products) of ecological changes across the study sites. The results showed inconsistencies between the WFD approach and the multivariate approach, as well as between the responses of macroinvertebrates and diatoms. The WWTP effluents impacted benthic communities in a single case: macroinvertebrates were negatively affected by one of the WWTP effluents, likely by the transported pharmaceuticals (other stressors are essentially homogeneous among sites). Given the findings and the scarcity of consistent evidence on ecological impacts that WWTP effluents may have in recipient ecosystems, further research is needed towards more sustainable regulation and linked environmental protection measures.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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