Collaborative Research: WERF: Determining the role of organic matter quality on PFAS leaching from sewage sludge and biosolids

合作研究：WERF：确定有机物质量对污水污泥和生物固体中 PFAS 浸出的作用

• 批准号: 1805127
• 负责人: Christopher Sales
• 金额: $ 9万
• 依托单位: Drexel University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-08-15 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1805127&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; WERF; Determining; role

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of synthetic compounds that have been widely used in a variety of industrial applications and consumer products for over 50 years. PFASs are a national concern due to the negative effects of these compounds on human health and ecosystems. Recently, PFASs were found in wastewater treatment plant solids (sewage sludge), and laboratory and field studies indicate that PFASs can leach from these solids. Since land application of these solids, also known as biosolids, is a common practice to fertilize and improve soil conditions, it is important to understand how solids management and treatment practices affect the presence of PFASs in biosolids. Additionally, little is known about how exposure to natural environments may affect the potential leaching of PFASs from biosolids once they are applied to soil. This research project will work with wastewater treatment plants to experimentally determine the effects of sewage sludge management practices on the amount and types of PFASs that end up in the biosolids. This project will also study environmental factors, such as temperature, rainfall, and biological decomposition, that may impact the release of PFASs into the environment following land application of biosolids. In addition to better understanding the fate of PFAS in biosolids, the outcomes of the project will likely lead to better sludge management practices that minimize possible PFAS exposure to soil ecosystems. The project will include outreach efforts to improve the understanding of PFASs and land-application of biosolids for middle school, high school, and university students.The main objective of this collaborative research project is to understand how solid characteristics and water quality affect PFAS desorption from sewage-derived solids. The proposed research will be the first effort to systematically identify solid phase characteristics and water quality factors that govern PFASs sorption capacity in sewage solids. The focus on sewage-derived sludge, namely secondary and anaerobic digester sludges and biosolids, provides a same-sourced solid that substantially changes in character over its production and its use. This proposal will combine PFASs sorption isotherm and edge experiments, conducted in concert with sewage-derived solid and leachate characterization and microbial assessments, to identify the critical factors governing PFASs sorption. The central hypotheses in this study are as follows: 1) sewage-derived solids protein contents will be the key solid phase characteristics that affects PFASs sorption capacity, and that sorption capacity will generally decrease with microbiological processing; 2) the presence of increased dissolved polyvalent cation concentration will increase PFASs sorption capacity, particularly for the longer chain length compounds; and 3) the abiotic sequential leaching weathering process will deplete the hydrophilic components of the biosolids, rendering the remaining biosolids with a more hydrophobic character and thus increased PFASs sorption capacity. If successful, this project will provide valuable information that will aid in the safe use of biosolids produced from recycling sewage waste, enabling a sustainable method of resource recovery from the Nation's wastewater treatment processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

多氟烷基物质（PFAS）是一类合成化合物，已在多种工业应用和消费产品中广泛使用了50多年。 由于这些化合物对人类健康和生态系统的负面影响，PFAS是一个全国关注的问题。 最近，在废水处理厂固体（污水污泥）中发现了PFAS，实验室和现场研究表明，PFAS可以从这些固体中浸出。 由于这些固体的土地应用（也称为生物固体）是施肥和改善土壤条件的普遍做法，因此了解固体管理和治疗实践如何影响生物固醇中PFAS的存在非常重要。 此外，关于自然环境暴露于生物固体一旦将PFASS施加到土壤上的潜在浸出可能会影响PFAS的潜在浸出。 该研究项目将与废水处理厂合作，通过实验确定污水污泥管理实践对最终在生物固体中最终出现的PFAS的数量和类型的影响。该项目还将研究环境因素，例如温度，降雨和生物分解，可能会影响PFASS在生物固体的土地应用后释放到环境中的环境。除了更好地了解生物固体中PFA的命运外，该项目的结果可能会导致更好的污泥管理实践，从而最大程度地减少PFAS可能接触土壤生态系统。该项目将包括宣传工作，以提高对PFAS的理解以及对中学，高中和大学生的生物固体的土地应用。该协作研究项目的主要目标是了解固体特征和水质如何影响PFAS从污水衍生的固体中脱附。 拟议的研究将是系统地确定固相特征和水质因素的首次努力，这些特征和水质因素控制污水固体中的PFASS吸附能力。 关注污水衍生的污泥，即二次和厌氧的消化层污泥和生物固体，提供了相同的固体，其性质在其生产和使用中的特征实质性变化。该建议将结合PFASS吸附等温线和边缘实验，该实验与污水衍生的固体和渗滤液表征和微生物评估一起进行，以确定有关PFASS吸附的关键因素。 这项研究中的中心假设如下：1）污水衍生的固体蛋白含量将是影响PFASS吸附能力的关键固相特征，并且吸附能力通常随着微生物处理而降低； 2）溶解多价阳离子浓度增加的存在将增加PFASS吸附能力，特别是对于较长的链长度化合物； 3）非生物顺序浸出风化过程会耗尽生物固体的亲水性成分，从而使剩余的生物固体具有更疏水性的特征，从而增加了PFASS吸附能力。如果成功的话，该项目将提供有价值的信息，将有助于安全地利用通过回收污水浪费而产生的生物固体，从而使能够从美国的废水处理过程中采用可持续的资源恢复方法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过该基金会的知识分子优点和广泛的影响来评估NSF的法定任务。

项目成果

Influence of microbial weathering on the partitioning of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in biosolids

微生物风化对生物固体中全氟烷基物质和多氟烷基物质 (PFAS) 分配的影响

• DOI: 10.1039/d2em00350c
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts
• 作者: Lewis, Asa J.;Ebrahimi, Farshad;McKenzie, Erica R.;Suri, Rominder;Sales, Christopher M.
• 通讯作者: Sales, Christopher M.