New findings on the occurrence, removal, and ecological risk assessment of micropollutants in publicly owned industrial wastewater treatment plants

IF 7.8 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Process Safety and Environmental Protection Pub Date : 2025-09-12 DOI:10.1016/j.psep.2025.107853

Hong-Duck Ryu, Jae-Hoon Kim, Su-Kyung Lee, Jeong Ki Yoon, Kyunghyun Kim

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Previous research on micropollutants (MPs) in wastewater treatment facilities has mainly focused on pharmaceuticals and personal care products in sewage treatment plants. This study presents the first comprehensive investigation into the occurrence, removal efficiency, and potential ecological risks of 34 unregulated inorganic and organic MPs in 12 publicly owned industrial wastewater treatment plants (POIWTPs) in South Korea. These facilities, located in areas with high densities of industrial complexes, have treatment capacities ranging from 5,000 to 185,000 m³ /day. All MPs were analyzed using internationally accredited methods. Among the target compounds, 24 were detected in effluents, with inorganic MPs occurring more frequently than organic ones. Ecological risk assessment using hazard quotient (HQ) values identified selenium (Se) and nickel (Ni) as priority pollutants, with HQ values of 125.1 and 1.5, respectively, posing a “high hazard” for aquatic life. These substances showed low removal efficiencies through conventional coagulation–flocculation (CF) treatment, with average rates of only 7.9 % and 28.3 %. The findings underscore the need for regulatory attention and improved treatment strategies. This study contributes meaningful insights toward the effective management of policy-relevant MPs in POIWTPs and highlights the importance of optimizing treatment processes to reduce ecological risks posed by industrial effluents.

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国有工业污水处理厂微污染物发生、去除及生态风险评价新发现

以往对污水处理设施中微量污染物的研究主要集中在污水处理厂的药品和个人护理用品方面。本研究首次对韩国12家国有工业废水处理厂（POIWTPs）中34种不受管制的无机和有机MPs的发生、去除效率和潜在生态风险进行了全面调查。这些设施位于工业园区高密度地区，处理能力为每天5,000至185,000 m³ 。所有MPs均采用国际认可的方法进行分析。在目标化合物中，有24种在废水中检测到，无机MPs比有机MPs发生得更频繁。利用危害商（HQ）值进行生态风险评价，将硒（Se）和镍（Ni）列为优先污染物，其危害商值分别为125.1和1.5，对水生生物构成“高危害”。通过常规混凝-絮凝（CF）处理，这些物质的去除率较低，平均去除率仅为7.9% %和28.3% %。研究结果强调了监管关注和改进治疗策略的必要性。本研究为有效管理与政策相关的工业废水提供了有意义的见解，并强调了优化处理过程以减少工业废水带来的生态风险的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Process Safety and Environmental Protection 环境科学-工程：化工

CiteScore

11.40

自引率

15.40%

发文量

929

审稿时长

8.0 months

期刊介绍： The Process Safety and Environmental Protection (PSEP) journal is a leading international publication that focuses on the publication of high-quality, original research papers in the field of engineering, specifically those related to the safety of industrial processes and environmental protection. The journal encourages submissions that present new developments in safety and environmental aspects, particularly those that show how research findings can be applied in process engineering design and practice. PSEP is particularly interested in research that brings fresh perspectives to established engineering principles, identifies unsolved problems, or suggests directions for future research. The journal also values contributions that push the boundaries of traditional engineering and welcomes multidisciplinary papers. PSEP's articles are abstracted and indexed by a range of databases and services, which helps to ensure that the journal's research is accessible and recognized in the academic and professional communities. These databases include ANTE, Chemical Abstracts, Chemical Hazards in Industry, Current Contents, Elsevier Engineering Information database, Pascal Francis, Web of Science, Scopus, Engineering Information Database EnCompass LIT (Elsevier), and INSPEC. This wide coverage facilitates the dissemination of the journal's content to a global audience interested in process safety and environmental engineering.