Investigation of triclosan fate and toxicity in continuous-flow activated sludge systems

The purpose of this research was to study the fate and toxicity of triclosan (TCS) in activated sludge systems and to investigate the role of biodegradation and sorption on its removal. Two continuous-flow activated sludge systems were used; one system was used as a control, while the other received TCS concentrations equal to 0.5 and 2 mg l−1. At the end of the experiment, 1 mg l−1 TCS was added in the control system to investigate TCS behaviour and effects on non-acclimatized biomass. For all concentrations tested, more than 90% of the added TCS was removed during the activated sludge process. Determination of TCS in the dissolved and particulate phase and calculation of its mass flux revealed that TCS was mainly biodegraded. Activated sludge ability to biodegrade TCS depended on biomass acclimatization and resulted in a mean biodegradation of 97%. Experiments with batch and continuous-flow systems revealed that TCS is rapidly sorbed on the suspended solids and afterwards, direct biodegradation of sorbed TCS is performed. Regarding TCS effects on activated sludge process, addition of 0.5 mg l−1 TCS on non-acclimatized biomass initially deteriorated ammonia removal and nitrification capacity. After acclimatization of biomass, nitrification was fully recovered and further increase of TCS to 2 mg l−1 did not affect the performance of activated sludge system. The effect of TCS on organic substrate removal was minor for concentrations up to 2 mg l−1, indicating that heterotrophic microorganisms are less sensitive to TCS than nitrifiers.