Battery of In Vitro Bioassays: A Case Study for the Cost-Effective and Effect-Based Evaluation of Wastewater Effluent Quality

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Authors

ALYGIZAKIS Nikiforos NG Kelsey Kwong Pui MARAGOU Niki ALIRAI Sylvana BEHNISCH Peter BESSELINK Harrie OSWALD Peter CIRKA Lubos THOMAIDIS Nikolaos S. S. SLOBODNÍK Jaroslav

Year of publication 2023
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Water
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/4/619
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w15040619
Keywords Danube River Basin; wastewater treatment plants; organic micropollutants; effect-based trigger values; toxicity endpoints; endocrine-disrupting compounds; mixture toxicity; environmental risk assessment; risk management; drinking water
Attached files
Description Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represent an important input of contaminants in the environment. Therefore, it is critical to continuously monitor the performance of WWTPs to take appropriate action and avoid an influx of contaminants in the environment. In this study, a battery of seven in vitro bioassays covering a selected spectrum of toxicity effects is proposed for quality control of wastewater effluents. The bioassays address mixture toxicity, which is the combined adverse effect of multiple contaminants and can act as an early warning system. The proposed battery was applied to samples from 11 WWTPs of representative technology from the Danube River Basin (DRB). The order of toxic effects in terms of extent of exceedance of effect-based trigger values (EBTs) was PAH (PAH activity) > PXR (xenobiotic metabolism) > ER alpha (estrogenic activity) > PPAR(gamma) > Nrf(2) (oxidative stress) > anti-AR > GR. A mitigation plan for WWTP operators based on EBT exceedance is proposed. This study demonstrates that the proposed effect-based monitoring battery is a complementary tool to the chemical analysis approach. A regular application of such time- and cost-effective bioanalytical tools in the WWTPs of the DRB is proposed to provide a 'safety net' for aquatic ecosystems.
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