Program responsible: Masters program "Miljö- och hälsoskydd"

Course responsible: Miljöskyddsteknik

Course responsible: Environmental degradatation of contaminants

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Increasing the Environmental Relevance of Biodegradation Testing by Focusing on Initial Biodegradation Kinetics and Employing Low-Level Spiking

  2023. Run Tian (et al.). Environmental Science and Technology Letters 10 (1), 40-45

  Article

  The environmental relevance of standard biodegradation tests such as OECD 309 has been questioned. Challenges include the interpretation of changing degradation kinetics over the 60–90 incubation days and the effects of chemical spiking on the microbial community. To ameliorate these weaknesses, we evaluated a modified OECD 309 test using water and sediment from three Swedish rivers. For each river, we had three treatments (no spiking, 0.5 μg L^–1 spiking, and 5 μg L^–1 spiking). The dissipation of a mixture of 56–80 spiked chemicals was followed over 14 days. Changes in dissipation kinetics during the incubation were interpreted as a departure of the microbial community from its initial (natural) state. The biodegradation kinetics were first-order throughout the incubation in the no spiking and 0.5 μg L^–1 spiking treatments for almost all chemicals, but for the 5 μg L^–1 treatment, more chemicals showed changes in kinetics. The rate constants in the no spiking and 0.5 μg L^–1 treatments agreed within a factor of 2 for 35 of 37 cases. We conclude that the environmental relevance of OECD 309 is improved by considering only the initial biodegradation phase and that it is not compromised by spiking multiple chemicals at 0.5 μg L^–1. 

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• Seasonal and latitudinal variability in the atmospheric concentrations of cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes in the Northern Hemisphere

  2023. Frank Wania (et al.). Environmental Science 25 (3), 496-506

  Article

  Field data from two latitudinal transects in Europe and Canada were gathered to better characterize the atmospheric fate of three cyclic methylsiloxanes (cVMSs), i.e., octamethyl-cyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6). During a year-long, seasonally resolved outdoor air sampling campaign, passive samplers with an ultra-clean sorbent were deployed at 15 sampling sites covering latitudes ranging from the source regions (43.7–50.7 °N) to the Arctic (79–82.5 °N). For each site, one of two passive samplers and one of two field blanks were separately extracted and analyzed for the cVMSs at two different laboratories using gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry. Whereas the use of a particular batch of sorbent and the applied cleaning procedure to a large extent controlled the levels of cVMS in field blanks, and therefore also the method detection and quantification limits, minor site-specific differences in field blank contamination were apparent. Excellent agreement between duplicates was obtained, with 95% of the concentrations reported by the two laboratories falling within a factor of 1.6 of each other. Nearly all data show a monotonic relationship between the concentration and distance from the major source regions. Concentrations in source regions were comparatively constant throughout the year, while the concentration gradient towards remote regions became steeper during summer when removal via OH radicals is at its maximum. Concentrations of the different cVMS oligomers were highly correlated within a given transect. Changes in relative abundance of cVMS oligomers along the transect were in agreement with relative atmospheric degradation rates via OH radicals.

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• In Vivo Bioconcentration of 10 Anionic Surfactants in Rainbow Trout Explained by In Vitro Data on Partitioning and S9 Clearance

  2022. Anton Ribbenstedt (et al.). Environmental Science and Technology 56 (10), 6305-6314

  Article

  Bioconcentration factors (BCFs) in rainbow trout were measured for 10 anionic surfactants with a range of alkyl chain lengths and different polar head groups. The BCFs ranged from 0.04 L kg^–1 ww (for C₁₀SO₃) to 1370 L kg^–1 ww (C₁₆SO₃). There was a strong correlation between the log BCF and log membrane lipid–water distribution ratio (D_MLW, r² = 0.96), and biotransformation was identified as the dominant elimination mechanism. The strong positive influence of D_MLW on BCF was attributed to two phenomena: (i) increased partitioning from water into the epithelial membrane of the gill, leading to more rapid diffusion across this barrier and more rapid uptake, and (ii) increased sequestration of the surfactant body burden into membranes and other body tissues, resulting in lower freely dissolved concentrations available for biotransformation. Estimated whole-body in vivo biotransformation rate constants k_B-BCF are within a factor three of rate constants estimated from S9 in vitro assays for six of the eight test chemicals for which k_B-BCF could be determined. A model-based assessment indicated that the hepatic clearance rate of freely dissolved chemicals was similar for the studied surfactants. The dataset will be useful for evaluation of in silico and in vitro methods to assess bioaccumulation. 

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• Removal of 293 organic compounds in 15 WWTPs studied with non-targeted suspect screening

  2022. Michael S. McLachlan (et al.). Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology 8 (7), 1423-1433

  Article

  Understanding how contaminant breakthrough in wastewater treatment plants is influenced by chemical structure and treatment technology is important for protecting the aquatic environment. In order to assess this question, consistent contaminant breakthrough measurements are required for a large number of chemicals. Using direct injection UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS with data-dependent non-target data acquisition followed by suspect screening against a library of >7000 compounds with exact mass and MS2 spectra, we quantified the removal of 293 chemicals in 15 WWTPs with widely varying treatment technology. Principle component analysis showed a clear and consistent influence of treatment technology on contaminant breakthrough. Log breakthrough was significantly correlated with log TSS and log BOD in treated effluent for 71% and 68% of the chemicals, respectively. Chemicals were identified which could be used as indicators of the standard of wastewater treatment. Furthermore, chemicals were identified that could be used to predict the breakthrough of groups of other chemicals. A high degree of correlation was found for the breakthrough of different groups of chemicals, which suggests that the data could be used to develop models describing how chemical structure influences breakthrough or removal efficiency. Non-targeted suspect screening is a useful method for generating consistent WWTP breakthrough data for large numbers of chemicals.

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• The Emissions Fractions Approach to Assessing the Long-Range Transport Potential of Organic Chemicals

  2022. Knut Breivik, Michael S. McLachlan, Frank Wania. Environmental Science and Technology 56 (17), 11983-11990

  Article

  The assessment of long-range transport potential (LRTP) is enshrined in several frameworks for chemical regulation such as the Stockholm Convention. Screening for LRTP is commonly done with the OECD Pov and LRTP Screening Tool employing two metrics, characteristic travel distance (CTD) and transfer efficiency (TE). Here we introduce a set of three alternative metrics and implement them in the Tool’s model. Each metric is expressed as a fraction of the emissions in a source region. The three metrics quantify the extent to which the chemical (i) reaches a remote region (dispersion, ϕ1), (ii) is transferred to surface media in the remote region (transfer, ϕ2), and (iii) accumulates in these surface media (accumulation, ϕ3). In contrast to CTD and TE, the emissions fractions metrics can integrate transport via water and air, enabling comprehensive LRTP assessment. Furthermore, since there is a coherent relationship between the three metrics, the new approach provides quantitative mechanistic insight into different phenomena determining LRTP. Finally, the accumulation metric, ϕ3, allows assessment of LRTP in the context of the Stockholm Convention, where the ability of a chemical to elicit adverse effects in surface media is decisive. We conclude that the emission fractions approach has the potential to reduce the risk of false positives/negatives in LRTP assessments.

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• Bioconcentration of Several Series of Cationic Surfactants in Rainbow Trout

  2021. Amelie Kierkegaard (et al.). Environmental Science and Technology 55 (13), 8888-8897

  Article

  Cationic surfactants have a strong affinity to sorb to phospholipid membranes and thus possess an inherent potential to bioaccumulate, but there are few measurements of bioconcentration in fish. We measured the bioconcentration of 10 alkylamines plus two quaternary ammonium compounds in juvenile rainbow trout at pH 7.6, and repeated the measurements at pH 6.2 for 6 of these surfactants. The BCF of the amines with chain lengths <= C-14 was positively correlated with chain length, increasing similar to 0.5 log units per carbon. Their BCF was also pH dependent and approximately proportional to the neutral fraction of the amine in the water. The BCFs of the quaternary ammonium compounds showed no pH dependence and were >2 orders of magnitude less than for amines of the same chain length at pH 7.6. This indicates that systemic uptake of permanently charged cationic surfactants is limited. The behavior of the quaternary ammonium compounds and the two C-16 amines studied was consistent with previous observations that these surfactants accumulate primarily to the gills and external surfaces of the fish. At pH 7.6 the BCF exceeded 2000 L kg(-1) for 4 amines with chains >= C-13, showing that bioconcentration can be considerable for some longer chained cationic surfactants.

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• Postflood Monitoring in a Subtropical Estuary and Benchmarking with PFASs Allows Measurement of Chemical Persistence on the Scale of Months

  2021. Rodrigo Álvarez-Ruiz (et al.). Environmental Science and Technology 55 (21), 14607-14616

  Article

  Measurements of chemical persistence in natural environments can provide insight into behavior not easily replicated in laboratory studies. However, it is difficult to find environmental situations suitable for such measurements, particularly for substances with half-lives exceeding several weeks. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that a strategic postflood monitoring campaign can be used to quantify transformation half-lives on the scale of months in a real aquatic system. Water samples were collected in the upper Brisbane River estuary on 36 occasions over 37 weeks and analyzed for 127 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), pesticides, and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). High quality time trend data were obtained for 41 substances. For many of these, data on the input of a wastewater treatment plant to the upper estuary were also obtained. A mass balance model of the estuary stretch was formulated and parametrized using PFASs as persistent benchmarking chemicals. Transformation half-life estimates were obtained for 10 PPCPs and 7 pesticides ranging from 18 to 260 days. Furthermore, insight was obtained into dominant transformation processes as well as the magnitude of chemical inputs to the estuary and their sources. The approach developed shows that under certain conditions, estuaries can be used to quantify the persistence of organic contaminants with half-lives of the order of several months.

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• Uptake of perfluorinated alkyl acids by crops: results from a field study

  2021. Sebastian Felizeter (et al.). Environmental Science 23 (8), 1158-1170

  Article

  Four crops with different edible plant parts (radish, lettuce, pea and maize) were grown in outdoor lysimeters on soil spiked with 13 perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAAs) at 4 different levels. PFAA concentrations were measured in soil, soil pore water, and different plant parts at harvest. Edible part/soil concentration factors ranged over seven orders of magnitude and decreased strongly with increasing PFAA chain length, by a factor of 10 for each additional fluorinated carbon (n(CF)) for pea. Three processes were responsible for most of the variability. The first was sorption to soil; calculating whole plant concentration factors on the basis of concentration in pore water instead of soil reduced the variability from five orders of magnitude to two. Second, the journey of the PFAAs with the transpiration stream to the leaves was hindered by retention in the roots driven by sorption; root retention factors increased by a factor 1.7 for each n(CF). Third, transfer of PFAAs from the leaves to the fruit via the phloem flow was also hindered - presumably by sorption; fruit/leaf concentration factors decreased by a factor 2.5 for each n(CF). A simple mathematical model based on the above principles described the measured concentrations in roots, leaves, fruits and radish bulbs within a factor 4 in most cases. This indicates that the great diversity in PFAA transfer from soil to crops can be largely described with simple concepts for four markedly different species.

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Show all publications by Michael McLachlan at Stockholm University