Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6316470 | Environmental Pollution | 2015 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
In reverse osmosis, a frequently used technology in water desalination processes, wastewater (RO concentrate) is generated containing the retained solutes as well as so-called antiscalants (AS), i.e. chemical substances that are commonly applied to prevent membrane-blocking. In this study, a risk assessment of a possible discharge of concentrate into a small stream was conducted. The acute toxicity of two concentrates containing two different ASs and of concentrate without AS to the amphipods Gammarus pulex and Gammarus roeseli was studied. Mortality of gammarids exposed to the concentrate without AS was not different to the control, whereas concentrates including ASs caused mortality rates up to 100% at the highest test concentrations after 168Â h. Resulting EC50-values were 36.2-39.4% (v/v) after 96Â h and 26.6-58.0% (v/v) after 168Â h. These results suggest that the ecotoxicological relevance of antiscalants is greater than currently assumed.
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Authors
Mona Feiner, Sebastian Beggel, Nadine Jaeger, Juergen Geist,