Fate of polydimethylsilicone in biosolids-amended field plots

Microaerobic conditions in anaerobic sludge promote changes in bacterial composition favouring biodegradation of polymeric siloxanes

Volatile organic silicon compounds (VOSiC) are harmful pollutants to the biota and ecological dynamics as well as biogas-based energy conversion systems. However, there is a lack of understanding regarding the source of VOSiCs in biogas, especially arising from the biochemical conversion of siloxane polymers such as polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS). The biodegradation of PDMS was evaluated under anaerobic/microaerobic conditions (P_O2 = 0, 1, 3, 5%), using wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) sludge as an inoculum and PDMS as a co-substrate (0, 50, 100, 500 ppm). On average, strictly anaerobic treatments produced significantly less methane than the 3 and 5% microaerated ones, which show the highest PMDS biodegradation at 50 ppm. Thauera sp. and Rhodococcus sp. related phylotypes were identified as the most abundant bacterial groups in microaerated treatments, and siloxane-related molecules were identified as remnants of PDMS catabolism. Our study demonstrates that microaeration promotes changes to the native bacterial community which favour the biological degradation of PDMS. This confirms that the presence of VOSiC (e.g., D4-D6) in biogas is not only due to its direct input in wastewaters, but also to the PDMS microbial catabolism. Microaerobic conditions enhance both PDMS and (subsequent) VOSiC degradation in the liquid phase, increasing the concentrations of D4 and D5 in biogas, and the production of less toxic siloxane-based derivatives in the liquid phase. This study suggests that microaeration of the anaerobic sludge can significantly decrease the concentration of PDMSs in the WWTP effluent. However, for WWTPs to become effective barriers for the emission of these ecotoxic contaminants to the environment, such a strategy needs to be coupled with an efficient biodegradation of VOSiCs from the biogas.

Survey of organic wastewater contaminants in biosolids destined for land application

In this study, the presence, composition, and concentrations of organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) were determined in solid materials produced during wastewater treatment. This study was undertaken to evaluate the potential of these solids, collectively referred to as biosolids, as a source of OWCs to soil and water in contact with soil. Nine different biosolid products, produced by municipal wastewater treatment plants in seven different states, were analyzed for 87 different OWCs. Fifty-five of the OWCs were detected in at least one biosolid product. The 87 different OWCs represent a diverse cross section of emerging organic contaminants that enter wastewater treatment plants and may be discharged without being completely metabolized or degraded. A minimum of 30 and a maximum of 45 OWCs were detected in any one biosolid. The biosolids used in this study are produced by several production methods, and the plants they originate from have differing population demographics, yet the percent composition of total OWC content, and of the most common OWCs, typically did not vary greatly between the biosolids tested. The summed OWC content ranged from 64 to 1811 mg/kg dry weight. Six biosolids were collected twice, 3-18 months apart, and the total OWC content of each biosolid varied by less than a factor of 2. These results indicate that the biosolids investigated in this study have OWC compositions and concentrations that are more similar than different and that biosolids are highly enriched in OWCs (as mass-normalized concentrations) when compared to effluents or effluent-impacted water. These results demonstrate the need to better describe the composition and fate of OWCs in biosolids since about 50% of biosolids are land applied and thus become a potentially ubiquitous nonpoint source of OWCs into the environment.