Detergents in Streams May Just Disappear

USGS scientist measuring pH and other water properties on the banks of Fourmile Creek, Iowa, before collecting a sediment sample for laboratory biodegradation experiments. (Larger Version)

The Story of 4-n-nonylphenol Biodegradation in Stream Sediments

Since about 2000, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have been finding the chemical breakdown products (degradation products) of household detergents in streams downstream from wastewater treatment plants WWTPs. Detergent degradation products are among the most frequently detected compounds in stream samples and are among the compounds measured at the highest concentrations. Environmental professionals are concerned about these compounds because scientists have shown that a class of degradation products known as nonylphenols can disrupt normal hormonal (endocrine) function in fish. To help determine the environmental fate and transport of detergent degradation products discharged into streams from WWTPs, USGS scientists assessed the potential for naturally occurring microorganisms to remove one common detergent degradation product (4-n-nonylphenol) from stream sediments. This process of natural degradation by microorganisms is called biodegradation. In a laboratory setting the scientists tested the ability of 4-n-nonylphenol to biodegrade naturally in the environment using actual stream sediment from three streams. Sediments were collected from upstream and downstream of WWTP discharges. The experiments demonstrated that naturally occurring microorganisms that inhabit the stream sediments can biodegrade 4-n-nonylphenol in sediments under oxic (with oxygen) conditions in the laboratory; however, no biodegradation was observed in the laboratory under anoxic (without oxygen) conditions. These results help explain the presence and absence of these compounds in the environment, and may suggest ways to enhance natural removal mechanisms. For example, WWTP practices that produce high dissolved-oxygen concentrations in sediment and water downstream of wastewater discharges could improve the potential for natural removal. Environmental professionals, water resource managers, and WWTP managers can use this information to develop sound programs and practices regarding the occurrence of emerging wastewater contaminants in the environment.

Reference

Bradley, P.M., Barber, L.B., Kolpin, D.W., McMahon, P.B., and Chapelle, F.H., 2008, Potential for 4-n-nonylphenol biodegradation in stream sediments: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v. 27, no. 2, p. 260-265, doi:10.1897/07-333.

More Information

• Biodegradation of Emerging Contaminants
• Emerging Contaminants in the Environment

Related Headlines

• Biosolids, Animal Manure, and Earthworms: Is There a Connection?
• Wastewater Indicators Shown to Degrade in Streams
• Endocrine Disruption Found in Fish Exposed to Municipal Wastewater
• Pharmaceuticals Found in Soil Irrigated with Reclaimed Water
• Are Pharmaceuticals in Your Watershed? Understanding the Fate of Pharmaceuticals and Other Contaminants in Watersheds
• Book Chapter on Exposure Modeling and Monitoring of Human Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
• Glyphosate Found in Wastewater Discharged to Streams
• Tracing Wastewater - Using Unique Compounds to Identify Sources of Contamination
• USGS Scientists Contribute to New Book on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
• USGS Scientists Develop New Method to Measure Pharmaceuticals in Water
• Developing Methods to Measure New Contaminants in Aquatic Environments
• Glyphosate Herbicide Found in Many Midwestern Streams, Antibiotics Not Common
• National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals, Hormones and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams is Making an Impact
• "National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in Streams" Named as One of the Top 100 Science Stories of the Year
• What's in Our Wastewaters and Where Does it Go?

Back to Headlines Page