Lanthanides Release and Partitioning in Municipal Wastewater Effluents
The use of lanthanides is increasing in our society, whether in communication technologies, transportation, electronics or medical imaging. Some lanthanides enter urban wastewater and flow through municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, little is known about the effectiveness of trea...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Toxics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/10/5/254 |
| _version_ | 1797495036574695424 |
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| author | Patrice Turcotte Shirley Anne Smyth François Gagné Christian Gagnon |
| author_facet | Patrice Turcotte Shirley Anne Smyth François Gagné Christian Gagnon |
| author_sort | Patrice Turcotte |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The use of lanthanides is increasing in our society, whether in communication technologies, transportation, electronics or medical imaging. Some lanthanides enter urban wastewater and flow through municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, little is known about the effectiveness of treatment processes to remove these elements and the concentrations released in effluents to receiving waters. The main objective of this study was to investigate the fate of lanthanides in various wastewater treatment processes. A secondary objective was to better understand the fate of medical gadolinium (Gd) complexes; anthropogenic inputs were differentiated from geological sources using an approach based on concentration normalization with respect to chondrite Post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS). The hypothesis was that most lanthanides, especially of geological origin, are associated with the particulate phase and could be efficiently removed by WWTPs. To monitor these elements in different WWTPs, various urban influents and effluents from simple aerated lagoons to advanced treatments were sampled in Canada. The results showed that the rates of lanthanide removal by treatment processes decrease with their atomic number; from 95% for cerium (Ce) to 70% for lutetium (Lu), except for Gd, which was minimally removed. The normalization approach permitted the determination of the origin of Gd in these wastewaters, i.e., medical application versus the geological background. By distinguishing the geogenic Gd fraction from the anthropogenic one, the removal efficiency was evaluated according to the origin of the Gd; nearly 90% for geogenic Gd and a rate varying from 15% to 50% in the case of anthropogenic Gd. The processes using alum as the flocculating agent had the highest removal efficiency from wastewater. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:42:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e9029615cdd94fe89cc19df6f2c142ba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2305-6304 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:42:46Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Toxics |
| spelling | doaj.art-e9029615cdd94fe89cc19df6f2c142ba2023-11-23T13:21:56ZengMDPI AGToxics2305-63042022-05-0110525410.3390/toxics10050254Lanthanides Release and Partitioning in Municipal Wastewater EffluentsPatrice Turcotte0Shirley Anne Smyth1François Gagné2Christian Gagnon3Water Science & Technology, Environment & Climate Change Canada, 105 Rue McGill, Montréal, QC H2Y 2E7, CanadaScience & Risk Assessment, Environment & Climate Change Canada, 867 Lakeshore Rd, Burlington, ON L7S 1A1, CanadaWater Science & Technology, Environment & Climate Change Canada, 105 Rue McGill, Montréal, QC H2Y 2E7, CanadaWater Science & Technology, Environment & Climate Change Canada, 105 Rue McGill, Montréal, QC H2Y 2E7, CanadaThe use of lanthanides is increasing in our society, whether in communication technologies, transportation, electronics or medical imaging. Some lanthanides enter urban wastewater and flow through municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, little is known about the effectiveness of treatment processes to remove these elements and the concentrations released in effluents to receiving waters. The main objective of this study was to investigate the fate of lanthanides in various wastewater treatment processes. A secondary objective was to better understand the fate of medical gadolinium (Gd) complexes; anthropogenic inputs were differentiated from geological sources using an approach based on concentration normalization with respect to chondrite Post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS). The hypothesis was that most lanthanides, especially of geological origin, are associated with the particulate phase and could be efficiently removed by WWTPs. To monitor these elements in different WWTPs, various urban influents and effluents from simple aerated lagoons to advanced treatments were sampled in Canada. The results showed that the rates of lanthanide removal by treatment processes decrease with their atomic number; from 95% for cerium (Ce) to 70% for lutetium (Lu), except for Gd, which was minimally removed. The normalization approach permitted the determination of the origin of Gd in these wastewaters, i.e., medical application versus the geological background. By distinguishing the geogenic Gd fraction from the anthropogenic one, the removal efficiency was evaluated according to the origin of the Gd; nearly 90% for geogenic Gd and a rate varying from 15% to 50% in the case of anthropogenic Gd. The processes using alum as the flocculating agent had the highest removal efficiency from wastewater.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/10/5/254rare earth elementswastewaterpartitioning |
| spellingShingle | Patrice Turcotte Shirley Anne Smyth François Gagné Christian Gagnon Lanthanides Release and Partitioning in Municipal Wastewater Effluents Toxics rare earth elements wastewater partitioning |
| title | Lanthanides Release and Partitioning in Municipal Wastewater Effluents |
| title_full | Lanthanides Release and Partitioning in Municipal Wastewater Effluents |
| title_fullStr | Lanthanides Release and Partitioning in Municipal Wastewater Effluents |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lanthanides Release and Partitioning in Municipal Wastewater Effluents |
| title_short | Lanthanides Release and Partitioning in Municipal Wastewater Effluents |
| title_sort | lanthanides release and partitioning in municipal wastewater effluents |
| topic | rare earth elements wastewater partitioning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/10/5/254 |
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